Lehigh heads to Amherst for NCAA Regional

AMHERST, Mass. – For the third consecutive season, Lehigh won the Patriot League tournament and earned the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA regionals. After trips to Nebraska in 2004 and Arizona in 2005, the Mountain Hawks head to Amherst, Massachusetts to play in a regional hosted by UMass. The Mountain Hawks will open regional play against the Aggies of Texas A&M, the No. 13 seed in the entire 64 team field. Familiar northeast foes UMass and Albany round out the four-team region.

Lehigh (41-12) cruised through the Patriot League tournament, winning three games by a combined 10-1 score. Freshman Lisa Sweeney was dominant in the pitchers circle, tossing a perfect game in her first tournament start, then earning the championship clinching win against Army. Senior Kate Arico extended her personal scoreless streak to 15 innings to lead the Mountain Hawks to their other win in the tournament.

Offensively, senior Mary Wieder and junior Julie Sterrett continue to carry the load for the Brown and White. Wieder leads the Patriot League with 38 runs batted in, while Sterrett is hitting a league best .373 with 37 RBI of her own.

The Mountain Hawks’ 41 victories tied a school and Patriot League record set by last year’s team.

On Friday, Lehigh will open up against Texas A&M, one of six NCAA Regional selections from the Big XII conference. The Aggies enter regional play with a 33-17 record and are led by Megan Gibson, who is a threat both at the plate and in the pitcher’s circle. Gibson is batting .320 with 11 home runs and 34 RBI while in the circle boasts a 16-4 record.

The host Minutewomen are making their 16th straight regional appearance and are hosting for the first time since 1999. A pair of freshmen led the way for UMass (37-14), champions of the Atlantic 10. Whitney Mollica paces the offense with a .417 average, 11 homers and 59 runs batted in. Freshman pitcher Brandice Balschmiter is 28-7 with a miniscule 0.71 earned run average and 266 strikeouts.

The only team in the region that Lehigh has faced before, Albany enters with a 36-11-1 record as champions of the America East conference. The Mountain Hawks split two games with the Great Danes at Kaufman Field in March. Casey Halloran has had a record-setting year in the circle, going 27-8 with 246 strikeouts. Lehigh leads the all-time series versus Albany 2-1.

The winner of the Amherst region will go on to face the winner of the Evanston regional in next weekend’s super regionals.

The Brown and White are making their fourth NCAA regional appearance, with a 1-6 all-time record. The Mountain Hawks are looking for their first NCAA win since a 2-0 triumph over Seton Hall in 2001.

The Mountain Hawks will face Texas A&M in game two of the double-elimination tournament Friday at 2:30 pm from the UMass Softball Complex. The host Minutewomen will face Albany in game one of the tournament with first pitch set for noon on Friday. All of Lehigh’s NCAA regional games will be broadcast on 91.3 FM WLVR as well as online at lehighsports.com with streaming powered by Yahoo! Sports. Coverage will begin 15 minutes prior to first pitch and will be provided by Steve Lomangino and Jeff Tourial.

NCAA Amherst Regional

Friday, May 19

Game 1: UMass vs. Albany, 12:00 pm

Game 2: Texas A&M vs. Lehigh, 2:30 pm

Saturday, May 20

Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 12:00 pm

Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 2:30 pm

Game 5: Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 6:00 pm

Sunday, May 21

Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5, 12:00 pm

Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6, 2:30 pm (if necessary)

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