Lafayette Leopards baseball

Lafayette Leopards
Lafayette Leopards
2024 Lafayette Leopards baseball team
Founded	1865
University	Lafayette College
Head coach	Allen J. Miller (2nd season)
Conference	Patriot
Location	Easton, Pennsylvania
Home stadium	Hilton Rahn '51 Field at Kamine Stadium ; (Capacity: 500)
Nickname	Leopards
Colors	Maroon and white;
College World Series appearances
	1953, 1954, 1958, 1965
NCAA Tournament appearances
	1948, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1965, 1966, 1990, 2007
Conference tournament champions
	2007
Regular season conference champions
	1990 (ECC), 2007

Last updated April 06, 2024

The Lafayette Leopards baseball team represents Lafayette College in NCAA Division I college baseball. The team participates in the Patriot League. They are currently coached by Allen J. Miller. They play home games in Hilton Rahn '51 Field at Kamine Stadium. The Leopards have advanced to the College World Series four times. Lafayette has also qualified for the NCAA tournament ten times, but only twice since 1966.

Facilities

Kamine Stadium is the home of Lafayette baseball. The stadium was renovated in 2003, establishing permanent seating and a permanent press box. It is a natural grass field with an official capacity of 500.^[3]

History

Baseball is the oldest sport at the college, with a club team competing on a College Hill since March 1860. The team's first official game was a 44–11 win on November 8, 1865, against amateurs from Easton. The first recorded intercollegiate match was a 45–45 tie in a baseball game against Lehigh in October 1869 and its first win against Lehigh 31–24 shortly thereafter.

Aside from its traditional Ivy League and local rivals, Lafayette developed a rivalry with North Carolina and South Carolina in the late 19th and early 20th century. Games were played on March Field, and were later played at Fisher Stadium. Once the Metzgar Athletic Complex was built in the late 1960s, the team moved its field to what is now known as Kamine Stadium.

Lafayette has made four appearances in the College World Series in the 1950s and 1960s, the final round of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. Coached by former major leaguer Charlie Gelbert, the Leopards made it the semi-finals in 1953 before bowing to the University of Texas, finishing third.^{[ citation needed ]} Lafayette eliminated Stanford and Boston College, with their only losses coming against Texas. Lafayette did not win a game in its other trips in 1954, 1958, and 1965.^{[ citation needed ]}

Lafayette won the East Coast Conference in 1990 and Patriot League title 2007 to earn a trip to the NCAA Regionals.

The most noted Lafayette baseball player is former Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who played on the team in the early 1970s.^{[ citation needed ]}

Tournament appearances

1948: Lafayette made its first NCAA tournament appearance, going 2–2 in the Eastern Playoff played in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Leopards defeated Illinois 9–6 but lost to Yale 11–2 to drop to the loser's bracket. Lafayette beat North Carolina 5–2 to advance to the final, but fell one run and one win short of the College World Series with a 4–3 loss to Yale.

1953: After a 17–4–3 regular season, Lafayette was one of the eight selected teams to participate in the 1953 College World Series. The Leopards finished 3–2 in the tournament, a third-place finish for the best in school history. Lafayette opened up play with a 6–2 defeat of Colorado State before being sent to the loser's bracket with a 7–2 loss to Texas. Lafayette advanced to the semi-finals with a 4–3 win over Stanford. The Leopards eliminated Boston College with a 2–1 victory before being eliminated by eventual runner-up, Texas.

1954: Lafayette went 2–0 in the four-team District 2 regional, defeating Villanova 4–3 and St. John's (NY) 9–0 to advance to the College World Series. The Leopards were eliminated immediately with two close losses, 5–3 to Missouri and 4–2 to Oklahoma A&M.

1955: Lafayette was eliminated with a 5–0 loss to Ithaca in the District 2 Regional in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

1957: Lafayette was eliminated with an 8–3 loss to St. John's in the District 2 Regional in Brooklyn, New York.

1958: Lafayette went 2–0 in the four-team District 2 regional, defeating Penn State 9–1 and NYU 5–1 to advance to the College World Series. The Leopards were eliminated after two straight losses, losing to Colorado State 10–5 and Western Michigan 4–3.

1965: The Leopards recorded a pair of one-run victories in the District 2 regional in Princeton, New Jersey to advance to the College World Series. Lafayette defeated Pittsburgh 4–3 and Princeton 5–4. At the CWS, the Leopards once again exited with two opening losses, one to eventual national champion Arizona State 14–1, and another to Connecticut 6–4.

1966: Lafayette returned to the District 2 regional in Princeton, New Jersey where they played four games, finishing 2–2. The Leopards beat Colgate 15–0, lost to St. John's 2–0, eliminated Rutgers with a 4–3 win, and were eliminated by St. John's with an 8–3 defeat.

1990: Lafayette was the No. 6 seed in the "South II Regional" in Starkville, Mississippi where they paired up with No. 1 regional seed Florida State and lost 7–2. The Leopards were eliminated by the regional's No. 5 seed, BYU, losing 13–3.

2007: The Leopards were the No. 4 seed in the "Charlottesville Regional". Lafayette paired up with No. 1-seeded Virginia where they lost 5–1. They were eliminated by the regional's No. 2 seed, Rutgers, after an 11–10 loss. No. 3-seeded Oregon State was the other team in the Charlottesville Regional, who went on to win the 2007 National Championship.

Major Leaguers

The Leopards have sent 13 players to the Major Leagues.^[4] 21 Lafayette players have been drafted in the Major League Baseball draft.

Player	Years at Lafayette	Years in MLB	Position	Clubs
George Barclay	1896–98	1902–05	OF	St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Beaneaters
David Bednar	2014-16	2019-24	P	San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates
Charlie Berry	1922–25	1925–38	C	Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox
Ben DeMott	1908–10	1910–11	P, OF	Cleveland Naps
Mike Gazella	1920–23	1923–28	IF	New York Yankees
Frank Grube	1924–30	1931–41	C	Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Browns
Ty Helfrich	1910–15	1915	2B	Brooklyn Tip-Tops
Les Hennessy	1912–13	1913	2B	Detroit Tigers
Frank Hiller	1939–42	1946–53	P	New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, New York Giants
Lep Long	1907–11	1911	P	Philadelphia Athletics
Jeff Mutis	1986–88	1991–94	P	Cleveland Indians, Florida Marlins
Fritz Scheeren	1913–14	1914–15	OF	Pittsburgh Pirates
Dick Wright	1909–15	1915	C	Brooklyn Tip-Tops

Other Notables

Joe Maddon played catcher and outfielder and played four years of Minor League Baseball in the California Angels organization. Maddon has been managing in professional baseball since 1981 and in the Major Leagues since 1996.

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References

↑ Lafayette College Full-Color Representations (PDF). Retrieved June 30, 2016.
↑ "Patriot League Record Book" (PDF). Patriot League. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 4, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
↑ "Hilton Rahn '51 Field at Kamine Stadium". Lafayette Athletics. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
↑ "Lafayette College Leopards". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved September 22, 2019.

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[1] Lafayette College Full-Color Representations (PDF). Retrieved June 30, 2016.

[Patriot_League_y-b-y-2] "Patriot League Record Book" (PDF). Patriot League. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 4, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2014.

[Stadium-3] "Hilton Rahn '51 Field at Kamine Stadium". Lafayette Athletics. Retrieved December 1, 2014.

[4] "Lafayette College Leopards". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved September 22, 2019.

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v t e Lafayette Leopards baseball
Venues	March Field (1865–1926) Fisher Field (1927–1969) Kamine Stadium (1970–present)
People	Notable players
Seasons	1865 1866 1867 1968 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
National Championships in bold; College World Series appearances in italics

v t e Lafayette College
People	Notable alumni and staff Nicole Hurd (President)
Athletics	Lafayette Leopards Football Men's basketball Women's basketball Men's lacrosse Baseball Softball Patriot League The Rivalry Lafayette Leopards football Fisher Stadium Kamine Stadium Kirby Sports Center The Last Amateurs
Campus life	Campus WJRH

v t e Patriot League baseball
Teams	Army Black Knights Bucknell Bison Holy Cross Crusaders Lafayette Leopards Lehigh Mountain Hawks Navy Midshipmen
Championships & awards	Patriot League baseball tournament