Lehigh University
Holy Cross
Mountain Hawks clinch PLT berth with split
5/1/2010 4:15:00 PM | Softball
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WORCESTER, Mass. – Lehigh clinched a spot in the 2010 Patriot League tournament by splitting a doubleheader with Holy Cross Saturday at Freshman Field. The Mountain Hawks dropped game one 3-2 and fell behind 3-0 in the nightcap but rallied with seven unanswered runs to win 7-3. With the split, Lehigh moves to 29-17 on the season and 12-6 in the Patriot League. Holy Cross is now 14-28 and 8-10 in the league.
In Saturday’s opener, Lehigh fell behind 2-0 after three innings as Holy Cross after a second inning RBI single by Gwen Reimer and a third inning leadoff home run by Caitlin Belanger.
The Mountain Hawks tied the game in the bottom of the fourth as junior Carly Potock led off with her third home run of the season and sophomore Julie Fernandez doubled home freshman Rosie Roessel with the tying run. Junior Alex Cueva was gunned down at the plate attempting to score the go-ahead run.
In the sixth, Keeley Seniuk led off with a double for the Crusaders and scored the eventual winning run on a single by Courtney Nealon.
Lehigh put the tying and go-ahead runs on base in the seventh but Belanger retired senior Lauren Eichblatt and Potock on fly balls to end the game.
The Mountain Hawks out-hit the Crusaders 10-6 in the opener but left 11 runners on base. Fernandez led Lehigh going 3-for-4 while Roessel and sophomore Jen Colquhoun each added two hits for the Brown and White.
Belanger picked up her eighth win of the season for Holy Cross while senior Tiffany Curtis took the loss for Lehigh allowing three runs on six hits. Curtis walked three and struck out nine as she falls to 16-8.
In game two, Holy Cross picked up where it left off scoring three runs in the first two innings, two of which were unearned because of three Lehigh errors.
Lehigh battled back with three runs in the top of the third to tie the game. Cueva and Fernandez delivered back-to-back one-out RBI singles to bring the Mountain Hawks within 3-2. Freshman Liz Lucas then brought home Cueva with the tying run with a sacrifice fly to center.
In the fourth, the Mountain Hawks took the lead when freshman Jacqi Kennelly led off with a walk and scored on a bases-loaded RBI single by sophomore Audra Wood.
The Mountain Hawks picked up three critical insurance runs in the fifth on an RBI single by senior Brooke Lewis that scored Fernandez while an error by Alex Campione allowed two more runs to score.
Freshman Rebecca Bliss allowed three runs (one earned) on eight hits in six innings, walking one and striking out three as she improves to 9-7. Katie Alexander started and took the loss for Holy Cross.
With the split Lehigh remains in second place in the league standings, two games behind Army which split its doubleheader at Bucknell. The Black Knights still must make up a doubleheader at Colgate next weekend.
The Mountain Hawks and Crusaders will wrap-up the regular season on Sunday with a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. from Freshman Field.
