BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Holy Cross baseball team split a doubleheader at Lehigh in the teams' regular-season finale on Monday, May 6 to round out the regular season.

GAME ONE:

Holy Cross 4, Lehigh 0

Stats Leaders:

• Pat McGowan (6.0 IP, no runs, seven hits, nine strikeouts)
• Austin Masel (2-for-4, RBI)
• Zach Buck (1-for-4, RBI)
• David Kale (1-for-3, RBI)
• Ben Malgeri (1-for-4, double)

W: Pat McGowan (2-8)
L: Luke Rettig (2-4)

How It Happened:

• After three scoreless innings, the Crusaders broke through first in the top of the fourth when freshman right fielder Ben Malgeri hit a one-out double down the left field line and sophomore catcher Zach Buck brought him home with a base hit to left field.
• Holy Cross used a three-run sixth inning to give senior right-hander Pat McGowan some breathing room. Sophomore catcher Zach Buck reached on an error and sophomore first baseman Andrew Selima was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with one out; an infield single from sophomore left fielder David Kale gave the Crusaders a run, followed by a sac fly from junior third baseman Alex Volpi and an RBI single by junior center fielder Austin Masel.
• McGowan was dealing all day; he faced a bit of trouble in the bottom of the sixth when Lehigh put runners on the corners with only one out, but McGowan struck out the next two batters looking to keep the Mountain Hawks off the board.
• Sophomore right hander Eric Lopes closed out the shutout with a scoreless seventh inning, with his one hit allowed erased by a double-play ball.

GAME TWO:

Lehigh 5, Holy Cross 2

Stats Leaders:

• Alex Gionis (1-for-2, home run)
• David Kale (1-for-3, home run)
• Austin Masel (2-for-4)
• Frank Spano (2.0 IP, no earned runs, three hits, four strikeouts)

W: Mason Black (3-0)
L: C.J. McKennitt (2-5)

How it Happened:

• After an early error, Lehigh took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
• Kale hit a home run to even the game up at 1-1 in the top of the third, but the Mountain Hawks immediately countered with a two-run bottom half of the third.
• Tony Gallo had a solo home run to make it a 4-1 game in the fifth.
• Senior second baseman Alex Gionis hit a solo homer of his own to cut the score in half in the top of the seventh, but Lehigh added one more run in the bottom of the frame to make it a 5-2 score and put the game out of reach.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

• Holy Cross moves to 21-30 overall and finishes with a 15-10 record in the Patriot League. Lehigh ends the year at 21-28 overall and 9-16 in the Patriot League.
• McGowan had a career-high nine strikeouts in his outing.
• This marks the second time this season that the Crusaders have shut out an opponent, as Holy Cross held Navy scoreless in a 4-0 win on March 25.

DUE UP:

• Holy Cross finishes as the No. 2 seed in the Patriot League and will host Army in a conference semifinal series beginning on Saturday, May 11.

Follow @HCrossBaseball