Lehigh University Athletics
Lehigh University
Longwood
Mountain Hawks open season with a split
2/27/2010 3:30:00 PM | Softball
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FARMVILLE, Va. – The Lehigh softball team opened its season by splitting a pair of games at the Lancer Spring Classic on Saturday. Senior Lauren Eichblatt belted her first career home run and sophomore Jen Colquhoun went 2-for-4 with three RBI as Lehigh opened the day with an 8-6 win over host Longwood. Saturday’s nightcap saw Ohio rip 12 hits and capitalize on three Lehigh errors as the Bobcats rolled to a 10-1 win in six innings, dropping Lehigh to 1-1 on the season.
“We played really well in the first five innings against Longwood,” explained Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan. “Longwood is a very good team and had a nice rally late but we held on to get the win. In our second game we never really got into a rhythm. Ohio is another very good team. We just didn’t pitch well or play defense well or communicate well. Those are the sort of things you would expect from your first time outside.”
Things started well for the Mountain Hawks in their season opener as Lehigh built an 8-0 lead over Longwood after five and a half innings of play. Eichblatt put Lehigh in front in the top of the second inning with a two-run blast to left field that scored Alex Cueva.
In the third, Lehigh extended its lead with three more runs. Sophomore Audra Wood was hit by a pitch and Rosie Roessel reached on an infield single. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third before Colquhoun brought both runners home with a single to right field. Freshman Liz Lucas followed with a single to left center that scored junior Alex Cueva from first base.
Lehigh’s lead grew to 8-0 with three runs in the top of the sixth. Freshman Jacqi Kennelly delivered a pinch-hit, two-out single to centerfield, and an error by Kami Nuckols allowed junior Carly Potock and Wood to score two runs. Colquhoun’s second hit of the game, a double to right center, plated Kennelly to put the Mountain Hawks up by eight.
The Mountain Hawks hoped to close the game out in the bottom of the sixth, but the Lancers would not go quietly as Longwood touched junior Tiffany Curtis for three runs on a two-run double by Amy Betterton and a sacrifice fly by Brittany Matthews.
Things became more interesting in the last of the seventh as back-to-back home runs by Brooke Short and Nichole Simmons brought Longwood within two, but with the tying run at the plate, Curtis got Maggie Margadonna to ground out to second base to end the game.
Curtis went the distance in the circle for Lehigh allowing six runs on 12 hits. The senior walked one and struck out four to pick up her 40th career win. The Mountain Hawks had ten hits as a team with eight of nine starters having at least one. Briana Wells took the loss for Longwood allowing five runs in three innings of work.
Game two was a much different story for Lehigh, which was out-hit 12-5 by Ohio. The Bobcats took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on a RBI single to right field by Jordan Paden off Lehigh freshman Becca Bliss.
The Mountain Hawks pulled even in the bottom of the second on a solo home run by Potock, but Ohio pulled ahead with two runs in the third and two more in the fourth. Sara Clark and Emily Wethington hit solo home runs within a span of three batters in the third inning, while Caitlin Colvin added a two-run single in the fourth.
The Bobcats broke the game open with five runs in the top of the sixth, capitalizing on three Lehigh errors in the frame. Shalene Petrick had an RBI single and Werthington drove in two more runs with another single for Ohio.
Bliss took the loss in her college debut, allowing eight runs (six earned) on ten hits in five-plus innings of work. She walked one and did not strike out a batter. In addition to her three RBI at the plate, Wethington earned the win in the circle allowing just Potock’s home run on five hits. She struck out six Mountain Hawks and worked around five walks.
“The good thing is with these early games we’ll get a good sense of what we’ll need to work on moving forward,” said Troyan. “We did some good things, but we realize we have a lot to work on and we’ll draw from these experiences when we get back to practice next week.”
The Mountain Hawks will wrap-up play at the Lancer Spring Classic with two more games on Sunday. Lehigh will face Ohio at 11 a.m. and Longwood at 1 p.m. at Lancer Field.
