Lehigh University
Holy Cross
Lehigh closes out regular season with sweep
5/2/2010 4:00:00 PM | Softball
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WORCESTER, Mass. – Lehigh kept its Patriot League regular season championship hopes alive by sweeping a doubleheader from Holy Cross on the final day of the regular season Sunday at Freshman Field. Junior Carly Potock and freshman Rosie Roessel each delivered two runs batted in as Lehigh won the opener 5-2 while freshman Rebecca Bliss fired a six-hit shutout as the Mountain Hawks took game two 5-0. With the sweep, Lehigh wraps-up the regular season at 31-17 overall and 14-6 in the Patriot League.
First-place Army split a doubleheader with Bucknell on Sunday leaving the Black Knights at 13-5 in the league with a doubleheader remaining against Colgate on Friday. Lehigh can still win its 12th straight Patriot League regular season title if Army drops a game to Colgate.
In Sunday’s first game, Lehigh, the designated home team, raced to a 5-0 lead after three innings. Sophomore Jen Colquhoun led off the second inning with a single, moved to second on a ground out and then scored on a two-out single by senior Lauren Eichblatt. Senior Tiffany Curtis then singled in her first at-bat of the season and Roessel followed with a two-run triple to right center to cap off the three-run frame.
Potock helped Lehigh extend the lead in the third with a two-out two-run single through the left field that scored junior Alex Cueva and sophomore Tenley Halaquist.
Holy Cross picked up its two runs on a sixth-inning Gwen Reimer RBI single and a solo home run by Tiffany Medwid in the seventh inning.
Curtis picked up her 17th win of the season in the circle, allowing two runs on five hits while walking four and striking out four. Caitlin Belanger took the loss for Holy Cross.
Bliss worked around six Crusader hits to earn her second shutout of the season in game two. The freshman right hander struck out four Crusaders and did not walk a batter as she improves to 10-7 on the season.
Lehigh went in front with three runs in the bottom of the third inning. The inning began with four walks and a sacrifice and sophomore Hana Harrison scored on a wild pitch for the first run of the ballgame. Sophomore Julie Fernandez singled home Roessel to make it 2-0 and Lehigh extended its lead to 3-0 when Potock drew a bases-loaded walk.
Cueva went 2-for-3 for the Mountain Hawks in game two with both hits driving in runs. She singled home sophomore Audra Wood in the fourth and then did so again in the sixth to cap the scoring for the Brown and White, who won three of the four games in the series.
Melissa Pivonka took the loss for Holy Cross allowing two runs in two-plus innings. Lehigh managed just four hits against Crusader pitching but the Mountain Hawks drew seven walks.
Lehigh will now be off until the Patriot League tournament begins on Thursday, May 13. The Mountain Hawks will host the tournament if Army drops one of its two remaining games to Colgate, while two Black Knight wins would place the tournament at West Point, N.Y.
