Mar. 20, 2011

Box Score Gm. 1
Box Score Gm. 2

As the ball rocketed off Christian Fadul's bat towards deep right centerfield with the scored tied 7-7 in the bottom of the seventh and Miguel Perez running from second in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader between Lehman and visiting Emerson College, it looked as if the final blow to the Lightning's stirring comeback had been delivered.

But Lions' centerfielder Michael Sullivan pulled off the play of the game, running down Fadul's hot shot while contending with the South Field's nightmarish outfield hill to make a sprawling grab to send the game to extra innings.

In the top of the eighth, the Lions took the lead with the go-ahead run scoring on a single to left field by none other than Sullivan. Emerson tacked on two more runs for a 10-7 advantage heading to the bottom of the eighth, where it would have to withstand yet another Lightning rally.

After reliever Brandon Topp secured the first two outs on ground balls to short, Robert Del Rosario and Raul Cordero coaxed back-to-back walks to bring the tying run to the plate in the form of Justin Moises, the Lightning's starter on the day. Moises banged an RBI single that scored Del Rosario to make the score 10-8 and bring Michael Liang to the plate. That the Lightning's hopes rested with Liang in the crucial situation was fitting seeing as it was he who was in the middle of the action over the final two innings.

With Lehman leading 6-5 heading to the seventh inning, Liang was summoned to keep the Lions at bay and secure the victory. However, Emerson's Geoff Lopes touched him for a long home run to left field that gave Emerson a 7-6 lead. Given a chance to redeem himself in the bottom of the seventh, Liang scorched a two-out double to right center and scored the game-tying run on George Flores double down the left field line.

Having been the Lehman hurler that allowed the Lions to regain the lead in the top of the eighth, Liang had one last opportunity to play hero, but could not summon any additional magic in his bat as Topp fired strike three past the Lehman freshman to end the ballgame and extinguish any potential game-winning rally.

The Lightning's tough luck continued in the second game as Emerson hurler Ben Quick kept Lehman off the bases over the first four innings despite several hard hit balls. Del Rosario finally broke through for Lehman with a single in the bottom of the fifth, but not before the Lions had gained a 4-0 lead off Lightning starter Brian Cubero. Quick ended up going the distance, allowing only three hits while striking out six, as Emerson took the second game 6-0.

Lehman's doubleheader loss drops it to 4-5 on the season.

The Lightning's next game takes it up the New York State Thruway to take on SUNY Purchase on Wednesday afternoon.