Lehigh University
Lafayette
Strong game two performance leads Lehigh to split
4/17/2010 4:00:00 PM | Softball
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EASTON, Pa. – Lehigh reached the halfway point of Patriot League play at 6-4 after splitting a doubleheader with rival Lafayette Saturday at Metzgar Fields. The host Leopards held off Lehigh 3-1 to win game one, but sophomore Julie Fernandez and freshman Liz Lucas each belted home runs and senior Tiffany Curtis hurled her fourth shutout of the season to lead the Mountain Hawks to a 7-0 win in the nightcap. With the split, Lehigh moves to 22-14 overall, while Lafayette is now 13-24 overall and 2-8 in the league.
After dropping game one, the Mountain Hawks wasted little time to take the lead in game two as Fernandez drove a Christine Hilcken offering over the centerfield fence for her third home run of the season. Fernandez went 4-for-8 in the doubleheader to extend her hitting streak to 27 games. Two walks and a hit batsman loaded the bases with two outs. Lafayette brought in Kasey Karr, who earned the win in game one. Karr uncorked a wild pitch allowing sophomore Jen Colquhoun to score as Lehigh lead 2-0 after half an inning.
The Mountain Hawks added to their lead in the fifth when Colquhoun led off with a single and then Lucas followed with an opposite-field two-run blast to right, her team-leading fourth of the season to extend the Lehigh lead to 4-0.
Curtis kept Lafayette without a hit until Kerry Griffin led off the bottom of the fifth with a single, but the senior helped start three double-plays in the first five innings to keep the Leopards off the board. Curtis started 1-6-3 ground ball double plays to end the first and fourth innings and snared a line drive to double off Carly Feiro to end the fifth.
In the seventh, Lehigh tacked on three insurance runs on back-to-back one-out singles by sophomore Tenley Halaquist and freshman Rosie Roessel and then a two-run triple to left by sophomore Audra Wood. Junior Alex Cueva brought Wood home with a sacrifice fly to close out the scoring for Lehigh.
Lafayette loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh, but Curtis retired Madeline Allen on a comebacker to end the game. Curtis moved to 13-6 as she went the distance on a four-hitter allowing four walks and striking out six. Hilcken lasted just two-thirds of an inning and allowed two runs as she falls to 2-7.
Lehigh out-hit Lafayette 12-4 in the nightcap with Lucas, Halaquist and Roessel joining Fernandez with multi-hit games.
In Saturday’s opener, Lafayette scored a run in each of the first three innings and Karr limited Lehigh to a run on five hits as she moved to 9-10 on the season.
Karr helped her own cause by leading off the bottom of the first with her eighth home run of the season off freshman Rebecca Bliss. The Leopards capitalized on several Lehigh miscues to tack on runs in the second and third. Back-to-back passed balls allowed Feiro to score in the second, while in the third, Lehigh made two errors on one play to keep the inning going and Griffin eventually singled home Stacey Kushner to make it 3-0 Leopards.
Lehigh scored its only run in the fifth as senior Brooke Lewis led off with a double to right field and then scored when Potock tripled to right. The Mountain Hawks put the tying runs on base in the seventh but Karr struck out Wood swinging to end the game.
Bliss fell to 6-6 allowing one earned-run on six hits in six innings. The freshman right hander walked two and struck out two.
At the halfway point of Patriot League play, Lehigh sits in third place behind Army (8-2) and Bucknell (7-3).
Lehigh and Lafayette will wrap-up their four game series on Sunday with another doubleheader at Metzgar Fields. First pitch for game one is set for 12 p.m.
