Lehigh University
Colgate
Sweeney ties career HR mark as Lehigh splits
3/27/2009 6:00:00 PM | Softball
 |
HAMILTON, N.Y. – Lehigh opened up Patriot League play by splitting a doubleheader against Colgate Friday afternoon at the Eaton Street Field. The Mountain Hawks scored ten runs in the final two innings to rally for a 14-7 victory in game one, while in the nightcap senior Lisa Sweeney tied a school record with her 21st career home run, but gave up three Colgate round-trippers as the Raiders came from behind to win 6-3. With the split Lehigh is now 13-14-1 on the season while Colgate is 11-8.
The Mountain Hawks fell behind early in the opener as the Raiders touched-up junior Tiffany Curtis for four two-out runs in the bottom of the first inning. Jennifer Ortega led off with a double and was sacrificed to third. After a strikeout left the Raiders with a runner on third and two outs, Curtis walked three straight batters to force in a run. Amanda Eccleston then followed with a bases-clearing double down the left field line to put the home team up 4-0.
The first of four Colgate errors allowed Lehigh to score a run in the top of the second as freshman Jen Colquhoun singled, moved to second on a wild pitch and later scored on an error by Raider catcher Nicole Siedhof after a base hit by junior Lauren Eichblatt.
In its next at-bat, Lehigh added two more runs as freshman Julie Fernandez scored on a wild pitch and sophomore Alex Cueva drew a bases-loaded walk.
Colgate tacked on a run in the bottom of the fourth to extend its lead to 5-3. In the fifth, Lehigh pulled within a run on a solo home run by senior Alisha Gonzales, her second home run of the season, in the top of the fifth, but the Raiders capitalized on one of five wild pitches as Ashley Rowe scored to put Colgate up 6-4 after five innings.
Lehigh took command of the game in the sixth with five runs on six hits off of Lacy Ver Steeg. The rally began with two outs as senior Whitney Lowe doubled home freshman Audra Wood. Two batters later, Sweeney put Lehigh in front with a two-run single, which made it 7-6 Mountain Hawks. Gonzales and Colquhoun followed with an RBI single and double respectively, to cap the five-run outburst and put Lehigh up by three.
In the seventh, the Mountain Hawks added to their lead with five more runs, the big blow coming from Colquhoun, who delivered a two-run single.
Wood, Sweeney, Gonzales and Colquhoun each had three hits in game one for Lehigh, which finished with a season-high 19 in the ballgame.
With 14 runs of support, Curtis was able to work around eight walks and five wild pitches to earn the win as she improves to 6-5 on the season. Curtis allowed seven runs on eight hits while striking out four.
Ver Steeg allowed six runs on eight hits in three innings in relief of Michelle Hollebeke as she falls to 1-4 with the loss.
Sweeney opened the scoring in game two with a home run leading off the second inning, her fifth of the season and 21st of her career, tying her with Kim Miller ’96 for the Lehigh career record. Lehigh tacked on a second run on an RBI single by Cueva that scored senior Ali Torborg.
Colgate pulled within a run in the bottom of the second on a solo homer by Siedhof and took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the third on a run-scoring single by Calla Yee and a two-run double by Eccleston.
Lehigh pulled within a run at 4-3 when Ferndandez singled home Lowe in the sixth inning but the Raiders tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on home runs by Siedhof and Erin Gomez.
Jesse McCarrick went the distance for Colgate allowing three runs on five hits, while Sweeney takes the loss, falling to 7-8 after allowing three earned runs on six hits. Sweeney walked three and struck out seven on the day.
The Mountain Hawks and Raiders will wrap-up their four game series with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 12 p.m. from the Eaton Street Field.
