Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Lehigh
Lehigh Bests Army
March 31, 2014 | Baseball
March 31, 2014
WEST POINT, N.Y. - Lehigh's Colin Gotzon limited Army to two hits and Kevin Long pitched out of a bases-loaded jam as Lehigh beat Army, 3-0, Monday in the second game of a Patriot League doubleheader at Doubleday Field at Johnson Stadium.
Army won the first game of the series 2-0 on Saturday and Lehigh won both games on Monday following a 5-4 victory.
Army is now 15-9 overall and 1-2 in the Patriot League. Lehigh improved to 11-10 overall and 2-1 in league contests.
Kris Lindner and Alex Jensen had hits for Army as Gotzon struck out six in 6.1 innings of work. Long got a double-play ground out to end the game to collect the save.
"Lehigh played well and their pitchers did a nice job," said Army interim head coach Matt Reid. "Our approach wasn't very good offensively and we'll clean that up. The same thing happened last year when we lost the opening conference series. We have to do what we did last year and bounce back."
Army starting pitcher Gunnar Carroll suffered his first loss of the season, throwing a complete game. He allowed two earned runs, struck out six and walked three.
Lehigh, which won game two of the series 5-4, took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. With two outs, Justin Pacchioli was hit by a pitch, Mike Garzillo drew a walk and Joe Abeln delivered a single to center to score Pacchioli.
John Elson extended the Lehigh lead when he drilled a solo home run to start the third inning. Connor Faust then doubled and scored on a throwing error for a 3-0 Lehigh advantage.
Army had runners on in the second when Jacob Page walked and Jensen singled but a caught stealing and lineout ended the frame.
Brock Davidson walked in the third inning and Mark McCants was hit by a pitch in the fourth but Army failed to score.
The Black Knights best opportunity came in the final inning, the seventh. Lindner singled to open the inning and two outs later, Daniel Cortes reached on a fielders' choice. Davidson walked to load the bases. Long came out of the bullpen and secure the victory with a double play.
"We hit early in the season. The last couple of games we got into a little bit of a funk. It's up to me to get us out. We'll do it. These guys are tough, these guys work hard and they are smart. We just have to put in a little bit extra work to get it7 back to where it was earlier in the season."
Army will host Fairleigh Dickinson Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. in a non-conference game at Johnson Stadium. Am audio and video stream will be offered through the Knight Vision subscription package. Fans in the Hudson Valley can hear the game on the radio at WEOK (1390-AM) and WALL (1340-AM).
