Lehigh University
Army
Lehigh completes four-game sweep at Army
4/29/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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WEST POINT, N.Y. – Lehigh wrapped up its Patriot League regular season by sweeping a doubleheader from Army Saturday afternoon at the Army Softball Complex. The Mountain Hawks won game one 8-2, behind four RBI from junior Julie Sterrett, then put three runs on the board in the first two innings to take the nightcap 4-1. The wins give the Mountain Hawks a four game sweep of the Black Knights, as Lehigh improves to 37-11 overall and finishes its league schedule with a 19-1 mark.
In game one, the Mountain Hawks scored three runs in the top of the first. Sterrett drove in juniors Lauren Haney and Heather Hamasaki with a double, then scored on an infield single by Taryn Hanley. Lehigh blew the game open with a four-run third inning, with Sterrett delivering the big hit again. With nobody out, Sterrett drilled a Kelly Trout offering over the wall for a two-run home run, her sixth of the season. The Mountain Hawks tacked on two more runs in the frame thanks to a pair of Army errors.
Sophomore Megan Conrad added an RBI single in the seventh inning to round out the scoring for Lehigh. In the pitcher’s circle, freshman Lisa Sweeney allowed just two runs on two hits to earn her 24th victory of the season. Sweeney worked around five walks, and struck out eight, with her only mistake being a two-run home run by Army’s Lindsey Gerheim in the fifth inning. Sweeney was also 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored.
Senior Mary Wieder gave Lehigh a first-inning lead in game two, with an RBI single. In the second inning, junior Whitney Schenbeck drove in freshman Whitney Lowe with a single, then came around to score on a groundout by Hamasaki.
In the seventh, Hamasaki singled home junior Mendy Martin to give Lehigh an insurance run. Hamasaki finished 3-for-4 with a run scored and two runs batted in.
Senior Kate Arico went the distance in game two, yielding a run on seven hits while striking out five to improve to 11-6 on the season.
The losses drop Army to 16-35, 9-11 in league games.
The Mountain Hawks clinched their eighth straight Patriot League regular season title prior to the start of this series. Lehigh will host the Patriot League Tournament at Kaufman Field beginning on Friday, May 12. The rest of the tournament field will be finalized after Sunday’s games. On Saturday, Lafayette and Bucknell split a doubleheader, while Colgate swept a pair from Holy Cross. Army has clinched a tournament berth, while Lafayette, Bucknell and Colgate are all currently tied for third place with 8-10 league records.
Lehigh will play a non-league doubleheader at Hofstra on Tuesday, May 9. First pitch set for 3:30 pm from
