Mountain Hawks head to UMass for NCAA regional

For the fourth time in five years, Lehigh has earned the Patriot League’s automatic berth into the NCAA Regional Tournament. The Mountain Hawks head to Amherst, Massachusetts for the second time in three years to play in a regional hosted by UMass. In 2006, Lehigh was sent to Amherst and the Mountain Hawks stunned the softball world by defeating No. 13 Texas A&M twice and reaching the regional finals. This year, the Mountain Hawks will open up with the Cardinal of Stanford, the No. 12 seed in the 64-team field. Familiar northeast foes UMass and Princeton round out the four team regional. The winner of this double-elimination regional will face the winner of the College Station, Texas regional in the Super Regionals next weekend.

After winning its tenth straight Patriot League regular season championship, Lehigh (38-15-1) captured its ninth tournament crown and its fourth in the last five years last weekend at Kaufman Field. The Mountain Hawks blanked Army 8-0 in five innings in their first game, then outslugged Bucknell 9-5 to reach the championship round. Needing just one more win to clinch the title, Lehigh lost to rival Lafayette 2-1 but battled back to defeat the Leopards 10-3 in the seventh and deciding game. Junior Whitney Lowe and freshman Alex Cueva paced the offense with six RBI apiece. Lisa Sweeney was named tournament MVP for the second time in three years following a strong performance at the plate and in the pitcher’s circle.

Sweeney has put together one of the finest seasons in school and Patriot League history, both at the plate and in the pitcher’s circle. Sweeney recently became the first player to win the league’s Player and Pitcher of the Year Awards in the same season. The Lumberton, N.J. native enters the weekend leading the Patriot League in batting average (.416), home runs (13), RBI (46), wins (25), ERA (1.54) and strikeouts (297), making her the only player in the nation to lead her league in both the offensive and pitching triple crown categories.

Stanford enters regional play as the No. 12 national seed with an overall record of 46-12. The Cardinal finished fourth in the Pac-10 with an 11-10 league record and were one of seven teams from the conference to earn a NCAA regional bid. Stanford has won four regional titles and advanced to the Women’s College World Series in 2001 and 2004. The Cardinal wrapped up the regular season with two losses at Arizona, after upsetting Arizona State 2-1 in ten innings in Tempe on Friday. Junior right hander Missy Penna (34-10, 1.10 ERA) is one of the top pitchers in college softball. The Stanford offense is led by Alissa Haber, who is batting .380 and by catcher Rosey Neill (.348, 18 HR, 49 RBI).

UMass carries the nation’s longest winning streak into the NCAA tournament. The Minutewomen have won their last 29 games overall and enter the tournament at 39-11 overall. UMass captured its 20th Atlantic-10 championship last weekend and will be making its 14th consecutive NCAA regional appearance and 18th NCAA appearance overall. The Minutewomen are hosting for the third straight year. In 2006, UMass won the regional, defeating Lehigh in the finals. Last year, the Minutewomen fell to No. 3 Oklahoma in the regional finals. UMass is led by junior ace Brandice Balschmiter (28-6, 0.54 ERA, 281 Ks). Jessica Serio tops the team with a .382 average, while Carly Normandin and Sarah Reeves have been the top run producers, with 36 RBI apiece this season.

One of the nation’s hottest teams, Princeton is making its seventh NCAA tournament appearance this weekend. The Tigers are just 25-22 overall, but have won 22 of their last 27 games since starting the season 3-17. Princeton was the second team to punch its NCAA ticket as the Tigers swept Harvard in the Ivy League Championship series back on May 3. Jamie Lettire has been one of Princeton’s top performers both at the plate (.352, 14 HR, 40 RBI) and in the pitcher’s circle (8-3, 3.13 ERA). The Tigers have the most home runs as a team out of anyone in this region, but also have the highest ERA. Kristen Schaus has started over half the team’s games in the circle. Kelsey Quist leads the team with a .358 batting average and ranks second in both home runs and RBI. Lehigh defeated Princeton 3-1 on April 22.

This is Lehigh’s fifth NCAA tournament appearance since 2001. The Mountain Hawks hold a 3-8 record in regional play. By earning a spot in the Amherst regional, Lehigh returns to the site of its most recent NCAA appearance. In 2006, the Mountain Hawks gained national notoriety by upsetting No. 13 seed Texas A&M 4-3 in their first game, thus becoming the first Patriot League team to win a first round NCAA softball game. The following day, Lehigh gave host UMass all it could handle before bowing 6-4 in ten innings. Later that day, the Mountain Hawks had a rematch with Texas A&M and proved the previous day’s win was no fluke, as Lehigh eliminated the Aggies with a 4-3 win. The Mountain Hawks were eliminated by UMass 3-0 the next day, but in becoming the first Patriot League team in history to win two games in an NCAA regional, Lehigh picked up arguably its two biggest wins in school history.

The Mountain Hawks will face Stanford in game one of the double-elimination tournament Friday at 2:30 p.m. from the UMass Softball Complex. The host Minutewomen will face Princeton in game two of the tournament with first pitch set for 5 p.m. All of Lehigh’s NCAA regional games will be broadcast on 91.3 FM WLVR as well as online at Lehighsports.com. Coverage will begin 15 minutes prior to first pitch with the pregame show featuring the Fran Troyan Report.

NCAA Amherst Regional

Friday, May 16

Game 1: Stanford (46-12) vs. LEHIGH (38-15-1), 2:30 p.m.

Game 2: Massachusetts (39-11) vs. Princeton (25-22), 5 p.m.

Saturday, May 17

Game 3: Winner game 1 vs. Winner game 2, 12 p.m.

Game 4: Loser game 1 vs. Loser game 2, 2:30 p.m.

Game 5: Loser game 3 vs. Winner game 4, 5 p.m.

Sunday, May 18

Game 6: Winner game 3 vs. Winner game 5, 1 p.m.

Game 7: Winner game 6 vs. Loser game 6, 3:30 p.m. (if necessary)

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Lehigh University Athletics

Mountain Hawks head to UMass for NCAA regional

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