Lehigh wins three major awards; readies for PLT

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – As Lehigh prepares to host the Patriot League Tournament on Thursday, a pair of Mountain Hawks totaled three of the league’s major softball awards, which were handed out Wednesday afternoon. Lisa Sweeney picked up two awards for the second straight year, as the senior captured her fourth straight Pitcher of the Year award, and also was named the league’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year for softball. Freshman Julie Fernandez was also recognized, as the league’s Rookie of the Year for the Mountain Hawks, who won their 11th straight Patriot League regular season championship and will be gunning for their fifth tournament title in the last six years.

One of the most accomplished players in school and Patriot League history, Sweeney becomes the first student-athlete in league annals to win a major softball award four times. Sweeney shrugged off a slow start to her senior season by winning her last 12 decisions. The Lumberton, N.J. native once again tops the Patriot League with a 2.22 earned-run average, to go along with her league-best 19-8 record. Sweeney enters the Patriot League Tournament with 209 strikeouts the most in the league and nearly 100 more than the next pitcher, while she has also fired seven shutouts.

Sweeney is already the Patriot League’s career leader in wins (90) and strikeouts (896). She also has 29 career complete-game shutouts and has thrown four career no-hitters, including a perfect game in the 2006 Patriot League Tournament. Sweeney is also a two-time Patriot League Tournament Most Valuable Player, leading Lehigh to tournament titles in 2006 and 2008. She now owns four of the nine Pitcher of the Year awards won by Lehigh hurlers.

In addition, Sweeney was voted the league’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the league’s sports information directors. Along with her prowess on the softball diamond, Sweeney has excelled in the classroom where she holds a 3.79 grade point average as a history major.

A multi-year member of both the Dean’s List and the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll, Sweeney has earned Academic All-District honors in each of the previous two seasons, and was named a third-team Academic All-America following the 2008 season. Sweeney, who earned Lehigh’s Scholar-Athlete Award at last week’s honors convocation, also serves as Co-Chair of Lehigh’s community outreach C.O.A.C.H. program among other prominent leadership roles.

Sweeney is the fifth Scholar-Athlete of the Year in softball for Lehigh, joining Kate Marvel (2006), Shana Treon (2004), Stephanie Digneo (2003) and Karen Kascinski (1995).

Fernandez becomes just the second Mountain Hawk to earn Rookie of the Year honors, joining Marvel, who captured the award in 2005. The left handed hitting first baseman batted a league-best .407 during the regular season. Fernandez also topped the Patriot League with 61 base hits and 13 doubles and was one of Lehigh’s top run-producers with four home runs and a team-leading 30 runs batted in.

A native of Moorpark, California, Fernandez was twice recognized as the league’s Rookie of the Week during the regular season, and added one Player of the Week award to her resume as well.

Lafayette junior shortstop Christina Giambrone was named the league’s Player of the Year, while Colgate’s Vickie Sax was honored as Coach of the Year.

Lehigh looks to get back to the NCAA Regional tournament for the second straight season and the fifth time in six years as the Mountain Hawks welcome Colgate, Bucknell and Lafayette for the Patriot League tournament, which begins Thursday at Kaufman Field.

The Mountain Hawks won their 11h straight regular season title with a 17-3 Patriot League record. With senior Lisa Sweeney and freshman Julie Fernandez leading the way the top seeded Mountain Hawks will open this double-elimination tournament against fourth seeded Lafayette, in a rematch of last year’s championship round. Lehigh swept four games from the Leopards in April, but Lafayette has played well lately, sweeping a doubleheader from Colgate on the season’s final day to qualify for this tournament.

During the regular season Lehigh led the Patriot League in batting (.311 team avg. - 18th nationally), pitching (2.58 team ERA) and fielding (.968). The Mountain Hawks have won the last 11 regular season titles, and have won 16 overall. Lehigh has won the Patriot League tournament nine times, including last year and four of the last five. The Brown and White have made five NCAA Regional appearances, with the most recent coming in 2008.

Lehigh will open the Patriot League tournament against rival Lafayette. The Leopards are 15-27 overall and finished 8-12 in the league, but have won six of their last eight games to wrap-up the regular season. Giambrone leads the way for Lafayette with a .398 average, 14 home runs and 34 RBI. Kasey Karr and Ali Henry have split the pitching duties for the Leopards.

Thursday’s other first round game pits No. 2 seed Colgate against No. 3 seed Bucknell. At 25-16 the Raiders are the only other team aside from Lehigh to post a winning overall record this season. Colgate finished 12-8 in the league, while the Bison enter the postseason at 18-30, 9-11 in league games.

The Patriot League tournament gets underway Thursday when the host Mountain Hawks will face No. 4 Lafayette in game one at 2 p.m., with No. 2 Colgate battling No. 3 Bucknell in game two at 4 p.m.

Games three, four and five are slated for Friday, beginning at 11 a.m., with the winner’s bracket game between the winners of Thursday’s contests. The championship round featuring game six and, if necessary, game seven is set for noon on Saturday.

All of Lehigh’s Patriot League tournament games will be broadcast live on 91.3 FM WLVR as well as online at Lehighsports.com, with streaming powered by Yahoo! Sports College Broadcast. Coverage for Thursday’s Lehigh-Lafayette game begins at 1:45 with the pregame show, featuring the Fran Troyan Report.

2009 Patriot League Softball Championship Schedule
Thursday, May 8

Game 1: No. 1 Lehigh vs. No. 4 Lafayette – 2 p.m.

Game 2: No. 2 Colgate vs. No. 3 Bucknell – 4 p.m.

Friday, May 9

Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 – 11 a.m.

Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 – 1:30 p.m.

Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3 – 4 p.m.

Saturday, May 10

Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 – 12 p.m.

Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 – 2:30 p.m. (if necessary)

Completed Event: Softball versus Lafayette on May 3, 2026 , Win , 8, to, 1

Completed Event: Softball versus Lafayette on May 2, 2026 , Loss , 4, to, 5

Completed Event: Softball versus Lafayette on May 2, 2026 , Loss , 9, to, 12

Completed Event: Softball at Villanova on April 28, 2026 , Win , 5, to, 0

Completed Event: Softball versus Hofstra on April 26, 2026 , Win , 7, to, 1

Completed Event: Softball versus Georgetown on April 26, 2026 , Win , 8, to, 6

Completed Event: Softball at Rutgers on April 24, 2026 , Loss , 3, to, 8

Lehigh University Athletics

Lehigh wins three major awards; readies for PLT

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