WORCESTER, Mass. – Fueled by a 10-strikeout showing from sophomore right-handed pitcher Liam Dvorak, the Holy Cross baseball team earned a 5-4 win over Lehigh on Sunday, March 31.

STATS LEADERS:

• Liam Dvorak (7.0 IP, no earned runs, four hits, one walk, 10 strikeouts)
• Eric Lopes (1.1 IP, no runs, no hits, one strikeout)
• David Kale (2-for-5, double, two RBI)
• Riley Livingston (2-for-3, two runs scored)
• Alex Volpi (2-for-3, RBI)

W: Liam Dvorak (4-2)
L: Matt Svanson (0-4)
S: Eric Lopes (2)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Sophomore left fielder David Kale and junior center fielder Austin Masel hit back-to-back doubles to lead off the bottom of the first and take an early 1-0 lead.
• After reaching first with a walk, Masel stole second to move into scoring position, and freshman right fielder Ben Malgeri brought him home with an RBI single through the left side.
• Lehigh's Tony Gallo cranked a home run to even the game at 2-2 in the top of the fourth.
• The Crusaders took the lead back in the bottom of the fourth; with runners on the corners, junior first baseman Alex Volpi had an RBI single to bring home junior catcher Riley Livingston and put Holy Cross up 3-2.
• Holy Cross went up 5-2 in the sixth after Kale notched a single with the bases loaded to score Livingston and senior third baseman Alex Gionis.
• With runners on first and second and one out in the top of the seventh, Dvorak had his 10^th strikeout of the day and then closed out the frame with a groundout to end the Lehigh threat.
• The Mountain Hawks cut within 5-4 after a two-run homer in the top of the eighth; sophomore righty Eric Lopes relieved sophomore Noah Luckenbaugh, and he drew a fly out to end the Lehigh side of the eighth.
• Lopes retired the final three batters in the top of the ninth to hold off the Mountain Hawks.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

• Holy Cross improves to 4-3 in the Patriot League and 7-22 overall; Lehigh falls to 2-5 in the Patriot League and 11-15 overall.
• Dvorak set a new career high with 10 strikeouts; less than a day after senior Declan Cronin set a 2019 single-game high for Holy Cross with nine strikeouts, Dvorak became the first Crusader to throw double-digit strikeouts this year. He is the first Holy Cross player to throw double-digit strikeouts since Brendan King had 12 against South Florida on March 12, 2016.
• Lopes earned his first two career saves less than 24 hours apart after recording a save in Holy Cross' win on Saturday.

DUE UP:

• Holy Cross will host Dartmouth in nonconference action on Wednesday, April 3.
• First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Fitton Field.

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