BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh looks to continue its record-setting start to the 2008 season as the Mountain Hawks travel to College Park, Maryland this weekend to take part in the Maryland Spring Break Classic. The Brown and White will play five games in three days, highlighted by a match-up with tournament host and 23rd ranked Maryland on Saturday afternoon.
The Mountain Hawks won nine of ten games last week at the Rebel Spring Games in Florida to run their record to 13-1 on the season. Lehigh has won seven straight games, after suffering its only loss of the season 2-1 to Valparaiso on March 4. The Mountain Hawks will have a chance to avenge that defeat when they face the Crusaders in their second game of the tournament Friday at 1 p.m.
Junior Lisa Sweeney has carried Lehigh both offensively and in the circle over its first 14 games. Sweeney is the Patriot League’s top hitter with a .528 average, five doubles and eleven runs batted in; and has also been dominant in the pitcher’s circle, where the two-time reigning Patriot League Pitcher of the Year is 7-0 with a 0.64 earned run average and 86 strikeouts in just 44 innings of work.
As a team, Lehigh is hitting .344 and has outscored its opponents 93-34 this season. In all, ten Mountain Hawks are batting over .300 this season, a group that includes two-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week Carly Potock. Freshman Alex Cueva leads the team with 12 RBI.
In the circle, Sweeney has had plenty of help from sophomore Tiffany Curtis, who is also off to a strong start with a 5-1 record and 1.14 ERA.
Lehigh will open play on Friday with games against UMBC and Valparaiso. The Retrievers of UMBC were picked to finish third in the America East Conference and enter the weekend at 4-8 after splitting a doubleheader with Howard on Wednesday. Much like Sweeney for Lehigh, Amanda Fefel has been a dual threat for UMBC, leading the team with a .429 average, and going 3-0 in the circle with a 2.85 ERA. Lehigh and UMBC will meet for the first time since 2005, a game won by the Mountain Hawks 3-0.
Valparaiso enters the tournament at 8-4 overall. The Mountain Hawks faced the Crusaders twice in Florida last week, with Lehigh prevailing 1-0 in eight innings behind a one-hitter from Sweeney and a pinch-hit walk-off single by sophomore Brooke Lewis in the first meeting; and the Crusaders winning the rematch 2-1. Pitcher Stephanie Kelly dealt Lehigh its only loss this season, working her way out of trouble as the Mountain Hawks stranded eleven runners in the game.
On Saturday, Lehigh will face Saint Peter’s (0-7) in the morning, before facing No. 23 Maryland. The Terrapins (19-2) have been one of the surprise teams early in the softball season, beating Michigan and UMass on opening day and winning 18 of their first 19 games. Maryland split a doubleheader with Pittsburgh on Wednesday and is led offensively by Sarde Stewart, who is batting .385 with 20 RBI. Meredith Nelles is the Terps top hurler with an 8-0 record and 0.99 ERA.
Lehigh will wrap up the weekend with a game against Niagara (4-6) on Sunday, the first meeting between the Mountain Hawks and Purple Eagles since 2004.
Action gets underway on Friday when Lehigh faces UMBC, with first pitch set for 11 a.m. The Mountain Hawks game with Valparaiso will follow at 1 p.m., and both games will be broadcast online at Lehighsports.com with streaming audio powered by Yahoo! Sports.
