Wednesday, April 10
Bronx, N.Y.
3:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
6
at
1
Fordham
Lehigh sweeps doubleheader at Fordham to reach 20-win mark
4/11/2013 1:05:00 AM | Softball
BRONX, N.Y. – Facing 1-0 deficits in both ends of Wednesday's doubleheader at Fordham, the Lehigh softball team battled back to sweep the twinbill, winning the opener 6-1 and the nightcap 7-1 at Bahoshy Field. Freshman Morgan Decker went 3-for-4 with a three-run home run and four RBI in game two to lead Lehigh, which improves to 20-13-1 on the season.
Lehigh pitchers Becca Bliss and Emily Bausher combined to allow just one earned run on ten hits in the two games as the Mountain Hawks swept a doubleheader from the strong Atlantic 10 program for the second straight year.
In game one, Fordham (23-14) struck for an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth as Michele Daubman doubled home Gabby Luety with two outs.
The Ram lead stood into the fourth inning when the Mountain Hawks rallied for three runs. The rally began when freshman Alexis Watanabe drew a leadoff walk and then Decker was hit by a pitch. Senior Liz Lucas then singled through the right side to score Watanabe with the tying run. Sophomore Cassie Waggy followed with a single to right, scoring pinch runner Jessica Calvini with the go-ahead run. Freshman MacKenzie Velasquez added an RBI ground out to put the Mountain Hawks up 3-1 after three and a half innings.
Lehigh extended its lead with two unearned runs in the fifth inning as senior Rosie Roessel and Watanabe reached on back-to-back singles, moved into scoring position on a throwing error, and then scored when Lucas reached on an error by third baseman Kayla Lombardo. A third Fordham error allowed Velasquez to score from second base after a sixth-inning double.
Bliss scattered six hits over seven innings, striking out two and walking two as she improved to 11-6 on the season.
Daubman took the loss for Fordham allowing six runs (three earned) in six innings.
Game two saw Bausher and Fordham's Patti Maloney matched zeroes through the first three and a half innings before the Rams broke through with a run in the bottom of the fourth as Paige Ortiz plated Daubman with a two-out single.
The Mountain Hawks responded with a big five-run fifth inning to take control of the nightcap. All five runs came with two outs. With runners on the corners, Roessel singled to center, scoring sophomore Emma Capetz with the tying run. Watanabe then followed with a single to center scoring pinch runner Lizzy Odren with the go-ahead run. Decker followed with the biggest hit of the day, a three-run blast to put the Brown and White up 5-1. The home run was Decker's team-leading fourth of the season.
Lehigh tacked on two more runs in the seventh as Roessel hit a one-out double and scored on a single to center by Decker. Two batters later, Calvini delivered a pinch hit RBI single to left, scoring Decker to increase Lehigh's lead to 7-1. Decker's RBI single gave her a team-leading 29 RBI on the season.
Bausher allowed a run on four hits while striking out four and walking four as she improves to 8-5 on the season. She also added two hits at the plate, joining Roessel, Watanabe and Decker to record eight of Lehigh's 11 hits in game two.
Maloney took the loss for Fordham, as she allowed five runs on six hits in 4.2 innings of work.
The two victories give Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan 598 for his career. Troyan will go for career win No. 600 this weekend when the Mountain Hawks host Army in a key four-game Patriot League series at Kaufman Field. At 6-2, Lehigh holds a one-game lead over Colgate and Holy Cross in the standings after two weekends of league play. Army is two games back at 4-4. Lehigh and Army will play doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday with first pitch both days set for noon. Live audio of Sunday's twinbill will be broadcast online at Lehighsports.com.
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