Baseball Takes Three of Four in Opening League Series

Sunday, March 29

Lewisburg, Pa.

3:00 PM

Army West Point

13-10, 0

Lehigh

5-16, 0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Army West Point	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	4	9	18	0
Lehigh	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	3	7	12	0

Baseball Takes Three of Four in Opening League Series

March 29, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score

March 29, 2015

Box Score | Box Score (PDF)

LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Army baseball team defeated Lehigh 9-7 in game two of Sunday's doubleheader at Depew Field to split the twinbill and secure a series victory. Lehigh won earlier in the day, 5-2, after the Black Knights won the first two games on Saturday afternoon.

Army's Patriot League record stands at 3-1, while the team improved to 13-10 overall. The loss dropped Lehigh to 1-3 in the conference and 5-16 this season.

As a team, Army pounded out a season-high 16 hits, led by Ryan Levenhagen and Alex Jensen, who each had three hits. Brandon Lee, Ben Smith, Jon Rosoff, Stu Schley and Johnny Griffith each contributed two hits apiece. Lee drove in two, while Jensen and Schley each scored twice.

On the mound, Patrick Gardner started and pitched 3.2 innings. He allowed three runs on six hits, struck out two and walked two, before giving way to freshman Matt Ball. He earned his third win of the season (3-0) by tossing 3.2 innings and limited Lehigh to one run on three hits. Ball set a new season-high with five strikeouts and walked one. Justin French tossed 1.1 innings and gave up three runs, before Griffith recorded the final out to pick up his second save of the year.

Army answered Lehigh's two first-inning runs when Jensen doubled home Alex Dickerson, who singled in the previous at bat. Lehigh starter Nick Stephens (0-4) issued a free pass to Lee before Griffith singled through the hole on the left side to tie the game at 2-2. Levenhagen came through with a base hit to chase home Lee and Army was up 3-2 after the two innings.

Each team scored once in the fourth, Army on Lee's single to right that scored Jensen and Lehigh on Justin Pacchioli's knock. Connor Faust came home on that play after he started the inning with a double. Ball entered the game at that juncture and a groundout ended the fourth with Army leading 4-3.

The score held despite Stephens giving up 11 hits as his afternoon was finished after 6.1 innings. He had six strikeouts and one walk prior to being lifted for Kevin Boswick. He finished the seventh before giving up an RBI double to Griffith in the top of the eighth.

The Mountain Hawks scratched out a run in the last of the eighth on a groundout and it was a one-run game heading into the ninth.

Leading 5-4 heading into their final at bat, the Black Knights provided some necessary breathing room when they pushed four insurance runs across the plate. Levenhagen started the rally with a single and scored when Rosoff doubled two batters later. Mark McCants followed Rosoff with his first triple of the season to end Boswick's day. Boswick allowed four runs on five hits and fanned two. Jensen greeted David Young with an RBI single to cap Army's scoring at nine.

Lehigh made things interesting with three runs of its own in the ninth, but the margin was too steep to overcome as Army held on for the two-run triumph. Pacchioli recorded four hits to lead the Lehigh offense and John Elson added three hits, drove in three and scored twice.

The Black Knights return to action on Tuesday afternoon in Loudonville, N.Y. when they travel to Siena for a non-conference matchup. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.

Game Notes: Senior Alex Jensen started his 177th consecutive game ... Jensen's three hits were a season high ... Levenhagen posted a season-high three hits with his third multi-hit game of the year.