Lehigh University Athletics
Lehigh sweeps weekly softball awards; hosts Columbia Tuesday
4/22/2013 8:21:00 PM | Softball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Following a 6-0 week that included a four game sweep of Patriot League rival Holy Cross, Lehigh swept the league's weekly awards, announced Monday. Freshman Morgan Decker was named Player of the Week for the second straight week and added Rookie of the Week honors as well. Senior Becca Bliss was named Pitcher of the Week after hurling three two-hit shutouts in three starts.
The Mountain Hawks clinched a berth in next month's Patriot League Tournament and crept within one win of claiming their second straight league regular season title. Lehigh has won 13 of its last 14 games, improving to 29-14-1 overall and 13-3 in league games.
Decker had another strong week at the plate, batting .462 (6-for-13) with three home runs and eight runs batted in. She also drew seven walks for an on-base percentage of .650. Lehigh's starting third baseman hit safely in four of six games and reached base safely in all six.
In the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader sweep at Princeton, Decker drilled a pair of home runs and drove in a career-high five RBI in a 9-2 Mountain Hawks win. Decker added two hits and three RBI in Sunday's game one win over the Crusaders, blasting a mammoth two-run home run to right in the third inning and bringing home the game-ending run with a sixth-inning double to right center in Lehigh's 8-0 victory.
Decker leads the Patriot League in batting average (.417), doubles (14), home runs (eight), RBI (39) and walks (28). She is batting .500 (22-for-44) with six doubles, five home runs and 19 RBI in 17 games so far in April.
Bliss put together the most dominant stretch of the season to date as she was named Pitcher of the Week for the third time in 2013 and the third time in the last four weeks. She made three starts and threw two hit shutouts in all three. Bliss threw 20 innings over the three games and allowed just six hits while striking out 20 and walking one. Lehigh defeated Princeton 1-0 in Wednesday's nightcap. Bliss then pitched the first game in both doubleheaders versus Holy Cross, striking out seven in a 5-0 Mountain Hawks win on Saturday and a career-high 11 in Sunday's 8-0, six-inning triumph.
The three shutouts give Bliss 19 for her career. She lowered her ERA to a league-leading 1.64 and ranks second in the league with 16 victories. Bliss continues to dominate at the league level. She is 8-0 with a 1.32 ERA in eight league starts this season and has struck out 32 and walked just three in 53 innings of work. Bliss has won her last 19 Patriot League regular season starts and has won 24 straight decisions against Patriot League opponents, including the regular season and Patriot League tournament, dating back to 2011.Lehigh will play its final regular season games at Kaufman Field on Tuesday when Columbia visits for a doubleheader. The Mountain Hawks and Lions have already met three times this season. Lehigh opened its season against Columbia at the Towson Invitational, winning 5-4 in 10 innings on March 1 and 3-2 in five innings on March 2. Columbia posted a 3-1 win in Lehigh's final game at the Rebel Spring Games on March 15.
Columbia comes into Tuesday's doubleheader at 21-21 overall. The Lions dropped three of four games at Princeton over the weekend, salvaging the series finale 3-2.
The Lions have three players batting over .300 on the season. Alix Cook is batting a team-best .364 with 19 RBI, while Emily Caruthers is next at .345. Emily Snodgrass leads the team with five home runs and 24 RBI to go along with a 3.07 ERA.
Brooke Darling and Emily Kenyon have split the majority of the pitching duties for Columbia. Darling is 10-8 with a 2.28 ERA, while Kenyon is 9-9 with a 2.48 and 130 strikeouts in 124 innings.
First pitch for game one of Tuesday's doubleheader is set for 3 p.m. Following the twinbill, Lehigh will close out the regular season with four games at Colgate this weekend. The Mountain Hawks need just one win to clinch the Patriot League's regular season title.
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