Lehigh University Athletics
Mountain Hawks head to Florida for NCAA regional
5/13/2009 11:00:00 AM | Softball
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For the second straight year and the fifth time in six seasons, Lehigh has earned the Patriot League’s automatic berth into the NCAA Regional Tournament. The Mountain Hawks head to Gainesville, Florida to play in a regional hosted by the top-ranked and No. 1 overall seed Florida Gators. Lehigh will open regional play against Texas A&M in a rematch from the 2006 Amherst regional, in which the upstart Mountain Hawks made national headlines by stunning the No. 13 seed Aggies twice and knocking them out of the tournament. Lehigh and Texas A&M are joined in the Gainesville regional by Florida and Florida A&M. The winner of this double-elimination regional will face the winner of the Tallahassee, Florida regional in the Super Regionals next weekend.
After winning its 11th straight Patriot League regular season championship, Lehigh captured its tenth tournament crown and its fifth in the last six years last weekend at Kaufman Field. The Mountain Hawks blanked rival Lafayette 1-0 in their first game, then held off Bucknell 6-2 to reach the championship round. Needing just one more win to clinch the title, Lehigh scored nine times in the top of the eighth inning to break a scoreless tie and beat Lafayette 9-0. Senior Lisa Sweeney went 7-for-9 with six RBI in three games and allowed just two earned runs in 22 innings to earn tournament MVP honors for the third time. Sweeney was joined on the All-Tournament team by seniors Alisha Gonzales and Whitney Lowe and sophomores Alex Cueva and Mickey LaValley.
Sweeney has put together one of the finest careers in school and Patriot League history, primarily in the pitcher’s circle, but also at the plate and in the classroom. Sweeney recently earned her fourth consecutive Pitcher of the Year honor from the Patriot League. The Lumberton, N.J. native leads the Patriot League in wins (22), strikeouts (230), ERA (2.04) and shutouts (nine) and the 2008 Player of the Year is having another solid year at the plate (.368, 7 HR, 35 RBI).
Texas A&M makes its 19th NCAA regional appearance this weekend. The Aggies reached the championship round of the Women’s College World Series last season, before bowing to Arizona State in two games. Texas A&M finished the regular season at 31-20 good for sixth place in the Big XII. The Aggies are one of seven schools from the conference that earned regional berths. Texas A&M is led by two-way threat Rhiannon Kliesing, who is the Aggies top pitcher with a 20-12 record, 2.29 ERA and 168 strikeouts. At the plate, the sophomore leads the Aggies with eight home runs and 34 RBI. Natalie Villarreal paces Texas A&M with a .342 average, while senior Holly Ridley has contributed eight homers and 28 RBI to go with a .299 batting average. Jo Evans is in her 13th season in College Station and has led the Aggies to the WCWS in each of the last two seasons.
Florida enters regional play as the No. 1 ranked team in the nation as well as the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament. The Gators enter regional play at 55-3 after a record 70-win season last year that culminated in the program’s first Women’s College World Series berth. Florida has won 21 straight games and has outscored its opposition 387-49 this season. The Gators’ only losses have come to Baylor (1-0), Washington (1-0) and Alabama (6-4). Senior pitcher Stacey Nelson leads the way for Florida with a 35-3 record and miniscule 0.43 earned-run average. The Gator offense has been a major force with a .332 team average and 76 home runs. Kristina Hilberth leads all regulars with a .386 average, while Francesca Enea has been the top run producer, batting .340 with 17 home runs and 65 RBI. Florida head coach Tim Walton is in his fourth season in Gainesville, where the Gators have reached the NCAA regionals each season.
Florida A&M rounds out the four team field in the Gainesville Regional. The Rattlers captured the MEAC Tournament Championship last weekend in Ormond Beach, Fla. to return to the NCAA Regionals. Florida A&M comes in at 30-30 under longtime head coach Veronica Wiggins. Junior Amanda Reyes has carried FAMU in the pitcher’s circle, with a 22-18 record and 2.31 earned-run average in over 250 innings of work. Nicole Terryn leads the Rattlers with a .322 batting average, while Melissa Oliphant has been Florida A&M’s top hitter at .316 with five home runs and 27 RBI.
This is Lehigh’s sixth NCAA tournament appearance since 2001. The Mountain Hawks hold a 4-10 record in regional play. In 2006, the Mountain Hawks gained national notoriety by upsetting No. 13 seed Texas A&M 4-3 in their first game at the NCAA Amherst Regional, thus becoming the first Patriot League team to win a first round NCAA softball game. The following 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 teams will meet for just the third time ever in Friday’s first game. Of Lehigh’s five seniors, only Lisa Sweeney and Whitney Lowe saw action against the Aggies. Holly Ridley is the only Texas A&M player who faced the Mountain Hawks back in 2006.
The Mountain Hawks will face Texas A&M in game one of the double-elimination tournament Friday at 3:30 p.m. from Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. The host Gators will face Florida A&M in game two of the tournament with first pitch set for 6 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 Gainesville Regional
Friday, May 15
Game 1: Texas A&M (31-20) vs. LEHIGH (36-16-1), 3:30 p.m.
Game 2: Florida (55-3) vs. Florida A&M (30-30), 6 p.m.
Saturday, May 16
Game 3: Winner game 1 vs. Winner game 2, 1 p.m.
Game 4: Loser game 1 vs. Loser game 2, 3:30 p.m.
Game 5: Loser game 3 vs. Winner game 4, 6 p.m.
Sunday, May 17
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)
