Lehigh University Athletics
Mountain Hawks open home slate against Penn
3/23/2010 10:45:00 AM | Softball
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh softball team opens its home schedule on Wednesday when the Mountain Hawks welcome the Penn Quakers to Kaufman Field for a non-league doubleheader. The Mountain Hawks split their first 14 games this season away from home and enter Wednesday’s twinbill looking to bounce back from a 1-3 showing at the UMBC Spring Classic, where Lehigh dropped a pair of games to Delaware and one to Niagara with its lone win coming against Mount St. Mary’s.
Last weekend in Baltimore, Lehigh’s offense averaged nearly eight runs per game and the Mountain Hawks batted .310 as a team, but the Mountain Hawks’ pitching staff served up ten home runs in four games and pitched to a .912 earned run average.
Senior Tiffany Curtis and junior Bri Gaumer have each shown flashes of success in the pitcher’s circle this season and freshman Becca Bliss picked up her first career victory Saturday against Mount St. Mary’s. The Mountain Hawks are hoping the return to pitcher-friendly Kaufman Field will help the team’s 5.73 ERA. Curtis leads Lehigh in wins (four) and strikeouts (28), while Gaumer has the lowest ERA at 4.20.
Offensively, the Mountain Hawks will rely on junior third baseman Alex Cueva and sophomore first baseman Julie Fernandez, who were both named to the All-Tournament team at the UMBC Spring Classic. Fernandez leads the Mountain Hawks with a .405 batting average and four doubles, while Cueva is hitting .367 with two home runs. Sophomore shortstop Jen Colquhoun has been the team’s top run producer, with a .275 average, two home runs and a team-best 12 RBI.
Penn enters Wednesday’s action at 3-8 overall. The Quakers were swept in a doubleheader Saturday at Monmouth, dropping the opener 3-2 in eight innings before falling 7-2 in the nightcap. Penn went 2-5 at the Rebel Spring Games with wins over South Dakota and Bryant, two teams which Lehigh also defeated.
Brooke Coloma leads the Quakers with a .379 average, while Keiko Uraguchi and Alisha Prystowsky are tied for the team lead with 12 hits apiece. Justine Payne leads in runs batted in with seven.
Four different Quakers have seen time in the pitcher’s circle, led by Chelsea Ott, who is 2-2 with a 1.77 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 31.2 innings of work.
Lehigh leads the series with Penn 32-19 with the teams having tied twice. Last year the Mountain Hawks won a wild first game of a doubleheader 10-7 in Philadelphia before the teams played to a 3-3 tie in the nightcap.
First pitch for game one of Wednesday’s doubleheader is set for 3 p.m. from Kaufman Field. Both games can be heard live online at Lehighsports.com.
