Saturday, March 30
Lewisburg, Pa.
1:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
5
at
2
Bucknell
Decker's blast powers Lehigh to Saturday sweep at Bucknell
3/30/2013 10:38:00 PM | Softball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Freshman Morgan Decker drilled a three-run home run in the top of the seventh, as Lehigh rallied to defeat Bucknell 3-1 in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday at Becker Field. The Mountain Hawks also won game one 5-2 behind a pair of RBI doubles from senior Liz Lucas as Lehigh won three of four games from the Bison in the first series of the Patriot League season.
With the sweep, Lehigh improves to 14-12-1 overall, while Bucknell falls to 7-20.
In game one, freshman Alexis Watanabe gave the Mountain Hawks a fast start with a leadoff home run to right field, but Bucknell a
nswered in the bottom of the frame on an RBI single by Mariah Midyette.
nswered in the bottom of the frame on an RBI single by Mariah Midyette. A Kristen Zahn RBI single put the Bison in front 2-1 after two innings before Lehigh answered with two runs in the top of the third. Senior Rosie Roessel singled up the middle with one out, and moved to second on a sacrifice by Watanabe. Decker then singled through the left side, playing Roessel with the tying run. Lucas followed with a double to center that scored junior pinch runner Jess Long with the go-ahead run.
Lehigh extended its lead in the fifth as Watanabe scored on a wild pitch, and tacked on another run in the seventh as Lucas doubled home Decker.
Senior Becca Bliss picked up her second win in as many days in the circle, allowing two runs on six hits as she improves to 7-6. Dana Nielsen took the loss for Bucknell.
Bucknell took a 1-0 lead in the third inning of game two as Zahn led off with a double and came around to score on a throwing error by Decker on a Mary Horton sacrifice attempt.
Lehigh had ten hits in the nightcap, but struggled to put any runs across through the first six innings. The Mountain Hawks had runners on second and third with less than two outs in the first and fifth innings but were unable to score. A single, a hit batter and a wild pitch gave Lehigh runners on second and third with two outs in the sixth, but Amanda Fazio got freshman Carissa Zito to ground out to end the threat.
Finally the Mountain Hawks broke through in their last at bat. Roessel and Watanabe led off the seventh with singles before Decker belted a three-run home run to right to give Lehigh the lead. The long ball was Decker's team-leading third of the season and the freshman third baseman now has 20 RBI on the season, leaving her one behind Lucas for the team lead.
Sophomore Emily Bausher walked Colie Escobar to open the bottom of the seventh, but after a sacrifice bunt, got Tori Robinson to line out to shortstop and struck out Zahn to end the game. Bausher struck out six and allowed just a run on four hits to earn the win as she moves to 6-4. Fazio took the loss for the Bison.
The Mountain Hawks will now open a six-game home stand beginning Wednesday when Lehigh hosts Rider in a non-league doubleheader. First pitch for game one is set for 3 p.m. from Kaufman Field. Lehigh's next Patriot League series will be at home against Lafayette April 6-7.
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