Saturday, April 13
Kaufman Field
12:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
6
vs
5
Army
Troyan nabs 600th win as Lehigh sweeps Army Saturday
4/13/2013 9:53:00 PM | Softball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan picked up his 600th career victory on Saturday as the Mountain Hawks swept a doubleheader from Army at Kaufman Field. Sophomore Emily Bausher delivered a pinch-hit, game-winning single in the bottom of the seventh as Lehigh took game one 6-5; and then fired a four-hit shutout in the pitcher's circle to lead the Mountain Hawks to a 2-0 win in the nightcap.
With the sweep, Lehigh improves to 22-13-1 overall and 8-2 in the Patriot League. The Mountain Hawks lead Colgate and Holy Cross by two games in the league standings at the halfway point of league play. Lehigh also extended its winning streak to six straight games.
“It's really a function of being at a great institution, an institution that's easy to recruit to for bright kids,” said Troyan about reaching the milestone. “Sue (Troyan) got it rolling in the early 90's with a number of local players who turned out to be fantastic players. We've been able to attract a lot of good players. In those 600 wins I haven't taken one swing or thrown one pitch. It's all the players.”
Bausher was brilliant in the circle in game two, out-dueling Army's Braetana Roy for her fourth shutout of the season. The sophomore right hander struck out eight and did not walk a batter as she improves to 9-5 on the season. Bausher allowed a leadoff single to Christian McKone then proceeded to retire the next 16 batters she faced, including a line-drive double play to end the first inning. She faced the minimum into the sixth inning before Rae Anne Payleitner doubled to center, but Bausher got McKone to fly out to left to end the threat.
Lehigh pushed across its two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Senior Rosie Roessel led off with a single but was caught stealing. Freshmen Alexis Watanabe and Morgan Decker then reached on back-to-back singles before senior Liz Lucas doubled down the left field line scoring both runners to give the Mountain Hawks a 2-0 lead.
“It is awesome to be a part of that,” Lucas said of being a part of Troyan's 600th win. “It shows that we're only here for a blink of an eye. We are only around for 100 to 200 of them. Being a part of 600 makes us realize there's a lot more to it than just us.”
Army (19-18, 4-6 PL) put the tying runs on base with two hits in the top of the seventh, but Bausher struck out Marina Northup looking to end the game and give Lehigh the doubleheader sweep.
“She made a decision that she was going to be more aggressive and a bit more feisty out there in the pitcher's circle,” Troyan said about Bausher. “We know she's one of the best pitchers in the Patriot League and she has the potential to be one of the best on the east coast. She needs to pitch not like a sophomore but like a junior or senior and she's starting to do that right now. She has made some great strides in the last couple of weeks.”
Roy took the loss for Army in game two allowing two runs on six hits in six innings. All six of Lehigh's hits came from the top four in its batting order, with Roessel and Decker recording two apiece.
In game one, the Mountain Hawks rallied from an early 1-0 hole to take a 5-1 lead, only to see the Black Knights come storming back to tie the game with four runs in the top of the seventh.
Army's Alex Reynolds was 3-for-4 in the opener and gave the Black Knights an early lead with an RBI double to right in the top of the first.
Lehigh bounced back with four runs in the bottom of the third off reigning Patriot League Pitcher and Rookie of the Year Morgan Lashley. Roessel led off with a single, stole second and then scored the tying run on a single to center by Watanabe, who was thrown out trying to advance on the throw home.
Decker, who reached base in all four plate appearances in game one, followed with a majestic drive over the right field fence for her fifth home run of the season, giving Lehigh a 2-1 lead. After Lucas was hit by a pitch, sophomore Cassie Waggy drilled her third home run of the season, a two-run shot to right center, to put the Mountain Hawks up 4-1.
Lehigh tacked on an unearned run in the sixth as freshman MacKenzie Velasquez led off with a walk, and then scored from third when Roessel reached on an error.
Army refused to go quietly however, as Payleitner led off the seventh with a single. Two batters later Amanda Nguyen blooped a double to left scoring pinch runner Savanna Aversa to make it 5-2 Lehigh. After an infield single, Reynolds doubled to deep left scoring two more runs to cut Lehigh's lead to one. Senior Becca Bliss retired Northup on a comebacker, but with two outs April Ortenzo singled up the middle to bring home the tying run.
In the bottom of the seventh Decker drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a ground out by Waggy. With two outs, Decker advanced to third on a wild pitch by Jules Steurer, diving in just ahead of the throw by Paige Vallejos. Following a lengthy battle with Steurer, Bausher laced a single down the left field line, scoring Decker with the winning run.
Bausher's walk-off hit gave Bliss her 12th victory of the season. Bliss allowed five runs on 12 hits while striking out one and walking one as she improves to 12-6 on the season.
Steurer (0-1) took the loss in relief for Army, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits in 2.2 innings of work.
“We had them 5-1 there in the first game we were able to tell them afterwards that Army is going to come back in every game,” Troyan said. “They battled and made it more than interesting there at the end. Fortunately, we got out of it. Bausher had that big two-out hit to win the first game and came back and threw exceptionally well today.”
The Mountain Hawks and Black Knights will wrap-up their four game series with a doubleheader Sunday beginning at noon from Kaufman Field. Live audio of the twinbill will be available at Lehighsports.com with streaming powered by Stretch Internet.
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