Lehigh baseball crushes Iona 11-1

The Lehigh baseball team dominated Iona College with an 11-1 victory Tuesday afternoon, marking the team’s 19th win of the season and its 14th win out of the last 21 games.

Senior shortstop John Elson led the Lehigh team with six RBI, including a home run over the left field fence in the first inning that brought in sophomore outfielder Jacen Nalesnik to put the Mountain Hawks at an early 2-0 lead. It marked Elson’s fourth home run of the season.

Lehigh (19-25, 12-8 Patriot) benefitted from strong performance from all three pitchers during the game, and the Mountain Hawks were able to hold Iona to only four hits.

Freshman starter Mark Washington kept the Gaels from scoring in the bottom of the first, but a double and a few groundouts gave Iona a run in the bottom of the second, cutting the Mountain Hawk lead to 2-1.

In the top of the third, Elson responded with a base hit to third base allowing Nalesnik to score once again. A fly ball followed, giving junior second baseman Mike Garzillo a chance to score, bringing Lehigh’s lead to 4-1. Waiting on third base, freshman shortstop James Bleming scored on a wild pitch increasing the score to 5-1.

Elson put Lehigh up 7-1 with a two-run double to left center, giving both Nalesnik and Garzillo an opportunity to score.

More strong pitching from senior Brandon Kulp in the last inning led to strikeouts for the final three outs, sealing the victory for the Mountain Hawks. The loss was Iona’s 30th of the season.

Lehigh will host doubleheader against DeSales University on Saturday at 12 and 2:30 p.m. The team also will begin preparation for the Patriot League semifinals May 9, in which it faces No. 3 seed College of Holy Cross.