Lehigh University
Binghamton
Lehigh sweeps its way to championship game
3/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
HARRISONBURG, VA – Lehigh defeated Binghamton twice on Saturday afternoon and will face host James Madison at noon on Sunday for the championship of the James Madison Championship. In the first game on Saturday, sophomore Erin Hengemuhle’s one-out RBI double in the bottom of the fifth inning gave Lehigh a 4-3 victory over Binghamton and improved the Mountain Hawks to 15-6-1 on the season. Hengemuhle’s double to left field scored pinch-runner, Ali Linsk from second base, and junior Emily Ling pitched a scoreless seventh inning to preserve the victory for the Mountain Hawks. Ling, who came on in relief of sophomore Kate Arico in the fifth, tossed three shutout innings for the win, striking out two. Arico hurled four innings, giving up three earned runs on eight hits. Lehigh got on the scoreboard early when junior Kelly Kliewer’s two-out double to left-center field sparked a two-out rally in the bottom of the first. Freshman Lauren Haney singled to right field, plating Kliewer. Freshman Heather Hamasaki then singled, scoring Haney, making it 2-0. Leading off the Lehigh third inning, freshman Whitney Schenbeck singled to right field. Haney put the Mountain Hawks up 3-0 with a single down the right field line, scoring Schenbeck. Binghamton freshman third baseman Sarah Eppolito blasted a three-run home run to center field in the top of the third, making the score 3-3. Sophomore Rose Barre sophomore Nicole Vitello and Eppolito had two hits each for Binghamton, which stranded nine runners. Junior Michelle Weeks suffered the loss for Binghamton, giving up four runs, three earned, in six innings. In the nightcap, Ling pitched Lehigh to the championship game of the Dukes Invitational Softball Tournament at James Madison University as the Mountain Hawks topped Binghamton, 1-0, in Game 2 of the semifinals. Ling struck out six, en route to pitching a complete-game, two-hit shutout. The win advanced the Mountain Hawks to the tournament championship game Sunday at noon where they will play James Madison. Lehigh scored its lone run in the bottom of the second inning when freshman Mendy Martin doubled, scoring sophomore Erin Hengemuhle who had reached base on an error by Bearcats’ freshman third baseman Sara Eppolito. The Mountain Hawks now stand at 16-6-1 heading into Sunday’s action.
