Lehigh University Athletics
Troyan announces 2010 softball schedule
1/26/2010 11:15:00 AM | Softball
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh softball team began preseason practice last week and on Tuesday, head coach Fran Troyan announced the Mountain Hawks’ 2010 schedule. Lehigh has won eleven straight Patriot League regular season titles and five of the last six tournament crowns and Troyan has once again put together a challenging schedule for the Mountain Hawks; one that includes a pair of early-season tournaments, plus Lehigh’s annual spring break trip to the Rebel Spring Games in Florida.
After opening in North Carolina the last two seasons, the Mountain Hawks will begin 2010 at the UVa Invitational in Charlottesville, Virginia. Lehigh will open up against NCAA Tournament participant Notre Dame on Friday February 26 and will meet George Washington later that day. On Saturday, February 27, Lehigh will face Ohio University and the host Cavaliers of Virginia, before wrapping up the weekend with another game against Notre Dame on Sunday.
“We intend to use our first weekend in Virginia to find out exactly what we need to work on going forward,” explained Troyan, who enters his 15th season as head coach. “You never know until you play in games how players react to situations and what the team needs to work on.
Troyan continues, “We’re excited to open our season against some outstanding programs. There are no easy games on that schedule. Our warts will show a bit, but that’s what we want as it will provide an opportunity for us to focus on practice for our challenging spring break schedule.”
The next weekend, the Mountain Hawks will head to Kissimmee, Florida to play ten games in six days at the Rebel Spring Games. Among the teams Lehigh will face are defending NEC Champion Sacred Heart, plus familiar Florida foes Butler, Detroit and Fairfield. Newcomers onto Lehigh’s Rebel Spring Games slate include South Dakota, Bryant, Indiana State Columbia and Wagner.
Lehigh’s final early-season tournament will be the UMBC Spring Classic in Baltimore, Maryland March 19-21. There the Mountain Hawks will face familiar foes Delaware and Niagara plus Mount St. Mary’s and Georgetown.
The Mountain Hawks will then open up their home schedule with 12 straight games at Kaufman Field, which will also usher in the start of Patriot League play. Penn visits Kaufman Field on Wednesday, March 24 for the official home opener, with the Purple Eagles of Niagara visiting for a four-game weekend series March 27-28. Lehigh’s final tune-up before league play begins will be a home doubleheader with Princeton on March 31.
“We’re playing in a strong tournament at UMBC,” Troyan said. “One which we hope will prepare us well for league play. We’re hosting Niagara for four games; a team we feel would be a top team in our league. We’ll use that weekend as a dry run for Patriot League play.”
Patriot League play begins on the first weekend of April and Lehigh will open up its quest for another league title at home against the Colgate Raiders, April 3-4.
The 12-game home stand will be followed by 12 straight road games. Lehigh visits Rider for a doubleheader on April 6 before heading up to Army for four games (April 10-11). The Mountain Hawks will head to New Jersey to play two against Monmouth on April 14, as a tune-up for the annual Lehigh-Lafayette series which this year will be played in Easton April 17-18. The Mountain Hawks and Leopards have met in the championship round of the Patriot League tournament in each of the last two seasons with Lehigh claiming titles both years.
Lehigh returns home for two games with Delaware on April 21 before wrapping up its regular season home slate with four games against Bucknell April 24-25. The Mountain Hawks will end the regular season with six road games: a doubleheader at La Salle on April 27 and four games at league-foe Holy Cross May 1-2. The 2010 Patriot League tournament will take place May 13-15 at the home field of the highest seed.
“We have a nice mix of teams for our midweek games,” Troyan noted. “Princeton has been a top team in the Ivy League for a number of years. Delaware has been a longtime rival of ours. We added Monmouth, a team that we expect to be at the top of its league.
Troyan concluded, “We expect the midweek games to do what they’re intended to do: give us the opportunity to work on things from the previous weekend and help us prepare for the next weekend’s games. In the Patriot League, we fully anticipate every game to be highly contested. That’s the way it should be.”
The Mountain Hawks return six starters and five All-League performers from last year’s team, which went 38-18-1 and advanced to the finals of the NCAA Gainesville Regional. Lehigh opens its season against Notre Dame at the UVa Invitational on Friday, February 26. First pitch is set for 9 a.m. from Charlottesville, Va.
