Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
27-22
Lehigh
23-18
Baseball Blasts Lehigh 22-7. One Win Away from Patriot League Title
May 26, 2021 | Baseball
The Black Knights are now one win away from taking their fifth Patriot League baseball crown since 2012.
The entire Black Knights' starting lineup had at least one hit on the day, with seven having multi-hit outings.
Cam Cerruto had a career day at the plate, going 4-for-5 with three runs scored and a career-best five RBI along with a career-high two home runs. The junior catcher has been seeing the ball well as of late, tallying three home runs in the last two contests.
On his approach at the plate, Cerruto said, "I am trying to not do too much, just going up there looking for a pitch to hit. I am hunting that pitch and if I get it I am doing a good job of putting a good swing on it."
After going down 2-0 in the first inning, the Black Knights answered back with one in the second and then exploded for seven in the fourth inning, including three of a home run by Carter Macias.
Leading 8-2, the Black Knights piled on with one more in the fifth and four in the seventh off a two-run home run by Cam Cerruto, his second of the day after a solo shot in the fifth inning.
The Black Knights added two more in the eighth and then put up their second seven-spot of the day in the top of the ninth to push their lead to 22-7.
On the mound, starter Anthony LoRicco shoved for 6.0 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
On LoRicco's start, head coach Jim Foster said, "That's what he does. He goes out and battles. He didn't have great stuff today but he battles. He's got that change up. He does a nice job pitching off that. He went out there and competed and kept us in the ballgame."
Relievers Teddy Lepcio, Ben DeLaubell and Tyler Pritchard each threw in relief, with Lepcio giving up one run in 0.1 innings of work, while DeLaubell gave up three runs on four hits with one strikeout in 1.2 innings. Pritchard closed things out with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth.
On being able to take game one in the best-of-three series, Cerruto said, "It is huge. Their pitcher today [Mason Black] is really good and it was a really good feeling to get to him early and get into their pen. We are just looking to build upon it tomorrow."
WHAT'S NEXT
The Black Knights are set for game two of the series at Lehigh, Thursday at noon. The if-necessary game three is set for 3 p.m. ET on Thursday following the completion of game two.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: LoRicco, Anthony (4-1)
L: Black, Mason (7-3)
Batting:
2B: Giachin, Anthony 3 ; Friedrick, Ross 3 ; Cerruto, Cam 1
HR: Cerruto, Cam 2 ; Macias, Carter 1
RBI: Meade, Hunter 1 ; Dubrule, Kevin 1 ; Giachin, Anthony 4 ; Ruta, Sam 3 ; Walden, Andre 1 ; Friedrick, Ross 1 ; Adams, Jeremiah 2 ; Cerruto, Cam 5 ; Macias, Carter 3
SF: Meade, Hunter 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Meade, Hunter 1 ; Dubrule, Kevin 2 ; Giachin, Anthony 2 ; Simoes, Tim 1 ; Ruta, Sam 1 ; Walden, Andre 1 ; Manesis, Nick 3 ; Friedrick, Ross 3 ; Adams, Jeremiah 1 ; Cerruto, Cam 3 ; Berg, Derek 1 ; Macias, Carter 3
SB: Dubrule, Kevin 1 ; Walden, Andre 1
HBP: Simoes, Tim 2
Batting:
2B: Sweeney, Gerard 1 ; Davis, Riley 1
HR: Sweeney, Gerard 1 ; Gorla, Joe 1
RBI: Sweeney, Gerard 1 ; Rother, Casey 1 ; Gorla, Joe 2 ; Nole, Andrew 2 ; Young, Tyler 1
SF: Nole, Andrew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sweeney, Gerard 2 ; Rother, Casey 3 ; Gorla, Joe 1 ; Nole, Andrew 1
SB: Young, Tyler 1
HBP: Retzbach, Adam 2 ; McKenna, Quinn 1
