WORCESTER, Mass. – Fifth-year Casey Rother hit three home runs, breaking Lehigh's career record, to help the Mountain Hawks to a key Patriot League doubleheader sweep of Holy Cross Saturday at Fitton Field.
Rother tied the record of Jesse Novalis '04 with his 28th career homer in the sixth inning of game one. Junior Andrew Nole drove in three runs as Lehigh took the opener 10-2.
The record-breaking 29th home run came in the fourth inning of game two and brought Lehigh within 8-7. Rother came up again in the fifth and hit a three-run blast, No. 30 of his career, to put the Mountain Hawks up for good 11-8. Lehigh went on to win the nightcap 14-12 with Rother driving in six runs and sophomore Rafe Perich adding four RBIs.
With eight RBIs on the day, Rother also surpassed Novalis for Lehigh's career runs batted in record. Novalis had 148 from 2001-04. Rother is now at 154.
Saturday's sweep improves to the Mountain Hawks to 16-20 overall, while the Crusaders are now 11-26. Both teams are 3-10 at the midway point of Patriot League play.
Lehigh started fast with three runs in the first inning of both games. In game one, Perich brought home Jake Whitlinger after a Crusader error and then Nole delivered a two-run double.
The Mountain Hawks added three more runs in the fourth inning on an RBI bunt single by first-year Dom Patrizi, a Whitlinger RBI single and a sacrifice squeeze bunt by junior Tyler Young.
Patrizi doubled home sophomore Andrew Kohl in the sixth and then scored on Rother's record-tying two-run home run to left center.
A sacrifice fly by Nole in the seventh inning put Lehigh up 10-2.
Fifth-year Luke Rettig earned the victory on the mound, allowing two runs on four hits over five innings with two walks and three strikeouts. Senior Ryan Deom added two scoreless innings of relief in the seven-inning contest.
Game two saw Lehigh race to a 3-0 lead after half an inning behind a Perich two-run double and a Nole RBI single. Chris Baillargeon hit a two-run single in the home first inning to bring the Crusaders within 3-2 after one.
Lehigh pushed its lead to 5-2 heading to the bottom of the second as Young singled up the middle to score Patrizi and Rother plated Whitlinger with a sacrifice fly.
Holy Cross then used the long ball to take an 8-5 lead after three innings. Sean Scanlon hit a two-run homer in the second and Baillargeon followed with a three-run shot to give the Crusaders a 7-5 lead. Patrick Casserly then homered in the third to put Holy Cross up by three. Holy Cross totaled five home runs in the nightcap.
Rother broke Novalis' record in the fourth inning with a two-run shot to left field that brought Lehigh within 8-7. Whitlinger singled home fifth-year Joe Gorla to tie the game at 8-8 in the fifth, and two batters later Rother delivered his second home run of the game, a three-run blast to left, to give Lehigh an 11-8 lead. The go-ahead home run was Rother's 13th of the season and ties the single season record shared by Jacen Nalesnik (2017) and Mike Garzillo (2015).
Jack Toomey's two-run double brought Holy Cross within 11-9 after five, but Perich answered in the seventh with his second two-run double of the game.
Single runs in the seventh and eighth brought the Crusaders within two again. Patrizi scored on a wild pitch in the top of the ninth to put Lehigh up 14-11. Toomey hit Holy Cross' fifth home run of the game for the only blemish on the bottom of the ninth inning.
Lehigh used five pitchers in game two. Sophomore Alex Bouchard started and went the first 1.2 innings. Senior Ben Christian was awarded the win, allowing one unearned run on one hit in 2.1 innings of work. First-year Cole Leaman and senior Will Grisack combined to allow three runs on three hits over the final 4.1 innings.
The Mountain Hawks and Crusaders will wrap up their series with a single game Sunday at 1 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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April 16, 2023 at 06:58AM
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Rother Breaks Home Run Record As Lehigh Sweeps Doubleheader ... - Lehigh University Athletics
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