May 14, 2006
For box scores and championship information visit the2006 Patriot League Baseball Championship Page.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Lehigh earned its first-ever Patriot League Baseball Championship title with a 5-0 win over Bucknell on Sunday at the Goodman Campus baseball field. The top-seeded Mountain Hawks won the championship series against the second-seeded Bison, 2-0, having defeated Bucknell 14-2 on Saturday. Bucknell advanced to the championship series with a 10-6 win over No. 3 Lafayette in yesterday's elimination game.
Lehigh (27-25) will move on to the NCAA Baseball Tournament for the first time in school history by earning the Patriot League's automatic bid. Bucknell ends the season 24-24 overall.
Patriot League Tournament Most Valuable Player honors went to Lehigh's two starting pitchers senior Kyle Collina (Bethlehem, Pa./Notre Dame Green Pond) and sophomore Joe Matteo (Fort Washington, Pa./Germantown Academy). Collina earned Lehigh's first win of the championship series with an eight inning performance, allowing just three hits and two runs, while striking out nine. Matteo threw a complete game on Sunday, giving up just five hits and fanning seven batters to improve to 7-3 on the season.
Lehigh put two on the board in the bottom of the first as the designated visiting team. Right fielder Nick Bet (Coplay, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) singled to bring in center fielder Joe Ercolano (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield) and catcher Matt McBride (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty). McBride drove in a run in the top of the third with a sacrifice fly, bringing in Ercolano.
The Mountain Hawks got two more runs in the top of the sixth because of an error committed by Bucknell third baseman Ed Rubbo (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge). The pair of runs would prove to be the last of the game, making it a 5-0 final score.
Lehigh's Bet went 1-for-2 with two RBI, while three other Mountain Hawks collected two hits. McBride went 2-for-4 with a run scored and one RBI.
For Bucknell, second baseman Brad Duvall (Hampstead, Md./Hereford) went 2-for-3 from the plate. Junior Nathan Mittag (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield) dropped to 5-5 on the season, giving up nine hits and three earned runs. Sophomore Jason Buursma (Seattle, Wash./Lakeside School) pitched two and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief.
Lehigh will learn of its NCAA fate when the 2006 NCAA Baseball Tournament bracket is announced on Monday, May 29 at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN. The sites of each regional will be reveled on Sunday, May 28 at 3:30 p.m. on ESPNEWS. NCAA regional play will take place Friday-Monday, June 2-5.
