Lehigh University
Army
Lehigh takes first two from Army Friday night
4/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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WEST POINT, N.Y. – Lehigh continued its winning ways as the Mountain Hawks swept a Patriot League doubleheader from host Army at the Army Softball Complex under the lights on Friday night. Once again the pitching tandem of freshman Lisa Sweeney and senior Kate Arico did the job in the pitchers’ circle, as Lehigh won the first game 4-0 and the second game 7-3.
The Mountain Hawks, already winners of the Patriot League regular season title, are now 35-11 overall and 17-1 in the league. Army falls to 16-33 overall and 9-9 in league play.
In the first game, Sweeney struck out six and did not walk a batter in a three-hit, complete game shutout. The win continued Sweeney’s record-setting season, as the freshman improves her mark to 23-3 in the circle.
At the plate, Julie Sterrett reached on an error to start the fifth, and Sweeney doubled to get two in scoring position. Second baseman Megan Conrad executed a squeeze bunt, plating Sterrett with the game’s first run. Left fielder Whitney Schenbeck then lifted a fly ball to left, scoring Sweeney on the sacrifice fly.
The Mountain Hawks added two more runs in the sixth. With two outs and nobody on, Lehigh strung together four consecutive singles to bring home two more runs. Catcher Mary Wieder and Sterrett scored on hits from Sweeney and first baseman Taryn Hanley.
In the second contest, Lehigh led by a 1-0 score thanks to a first inning run when Hanley gave Arico a larger cushion to work with by blasting a three-run homer to left-center field. The home run was Hanley’s first of the season, and it gave the Mountain Hawks a 4-0 lead in the third.
Army ended up scratching three runs off Arico (10-6), but the Mountain Hawks added an insurance run in the sixth and two more in the seventh to hold off the Black Knights’ charge.
Center fielder Kate Marvel scored twice and was 2-for-3 at the plate in the game two win. Sterrett scored two more runs in the night cap, and four overall on the day.
Lehigh and Army wrap up the Patriot League regular season schedule with another twin bill on Saturday. First pitch of game one is set for 2:30 pm from the Army Softball Complex.
