Box Score College Baseball
Lehigh University 9, Rider University 8 (10 innings)
BETHLEHEM, PA--The Broncs lost an extra inning game at Lehigh Tuesday. “Any time you score eight runs you should win,” said Rider head coach Barry Davis. “We left 11 men on base.”
Lehigh All-American Mike Garzillo hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the score at 8-8 and hit an RBI single in the 10th inning for the winning run. “Garzillo can play,” Davis said.
Rider (10-20) took an 8-7 lead in the ninth inning when senior James Locklear (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) singled and scored on an RBI single by freshman Riley Mihalik (Churchville, PA/Chestnut Hill).
Mihalik had two hits in the game and now has eight RBI in his last five games.
Locklear had two hits and now has 158 career hits, 42nd most ever at Rider.
“We had the lead several times,” Davis said, “we just didn't do enough. Situationally we didn't hit enough. We were beat 3-1 from the seventh inning on.”
Lehigh (13-21) tied the score at 7-7 in the eighth inning with a triple and a two-out single.
Three walks, a hit batter and a two-run single by junior Lee Lipinski (Glen Arm, MD/Calvert) gave Rider a 7-6 lead in the sixth inning. Lipinski had two hits in the game.
Lehigh scored three runs on three hits in the fifth inning to take a 6-4 lead.
Rider took a 4-3 lead in the fifth inning when sophomore Jake Bender (Ellicot, Md./Marriotts Ridge) doubled and scored on a Lehigh error. Bender had two hits in the game.
The Broncs tied the score at 3-3 in the third on a two-run home run by junior Tyler Kaiser (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown), his third homer of the season and the second in his last two games. Kaiser also doubled.
Lehigh scored three runs on four hits in the bottom of the second inning to take a 3-1 lead.
The Broncs manufactured a run in the second inning when junior Mike Volaski (Oxnard, CA/Oxnard) reached base on an error and scored after a walk, a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Christian Estevez (River Edge, NJ/River Dell) and an RBI ground out by Mihalik. Volaski singled and extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
Rider and Lehigh met last Tuesday, with the Broncs winning in extra innings of the Liberty Bell Classic semifinal.
Rider defeated Lehigh twice last year, 11-6 in the Liberty Bell Classic at La Salle and 9-4 at Rider. The teams did not meet in 2014 and Rider won 6-4 in 2013. Rider defeated Lehigh 13-0 in 1989 and the two teams did not meet again until 2007, a 12-5 Rider victory.
Former East Coast Conference rivals in the 1970s and '80s, Rider and Lehigh have now met 50 times since the series began in 1967 with Rider winning 36, including nine of the last 10.
The last time Lehigh defeated Rider was 1986.
Rider hosts Canisius for a three-game MAAC series this weekend beginning with a 12 noon doubleheader on Saturday. “We have to play better this weekend,” Davis said. “Canisius is always good. We'll be ready for them but we'll have to play our best against them.”
-ru-
