Lehigh University Athletics
Mountain Hawks head to Fordham for Wednesday doubleheader
4/9/2013 8:29:00 PM | Softball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh softball team returns to the road Wednesday as the Mountain Hawks head to the Bronx, N.Y. to face Atlantic 10 member Fordham in a non-league doubleheader. The Mountain Hawks went 4-1 in five home games last week and will use Wednesday's twinbill as a tune-up for a key four-game Patriot League series versus Army this weekend at Kaufman Field.
Lehigh (18-13-1, 6-2 Patriot League) captured two Patriot League weekly awards Monday as senior centerfielder Rosie Roessel was named Player of the Week and senior Becca Bliss repeated as Pitcher of the Week.
Roessel raised her season average to .367 after batting .636 in the five games last week. She posted her first two RBI of the season last week and was a perfect 6-for-6 in stolen bases to improve to 15-for-15 in steals on the season.
Bliss won both of her starts as Lehigh won three of four games from rival Lafayette and also picked up a win in relief in the Mountain Hawks' 6-3 non-league win over Rider last Wednesday. Bliss leads Lehigh with ten victories this season, and ranks in the top ten nationally in fewest walks per seven innings as she has allowed just 11 in 100 innings of work. Her pitching partner, sophomore Emily Bausher, is coming off a one-hitter in the series finale versus the Leopards where she struck out 12 batters. Bausher leads Lehigh with 99 strikeouts and tops the Patriot League with a 1.89 ERA.
Freshman Morgan Decker benefitted from another strong week to take over the team lead in batting at .384. Decker also leads Lehigh with three home runs and 25 runs batted in. Roessel is second to Decker in batting average, while senior Liz Lucas is third at .358 to go along with 11 doubles and 24 RBI.Fordham enters Wednesday's doubleheader at 23-12 and the Rams come in hot, having won three straight games and eight of their last nine. The Rams went 3-1 over the weekend, splitting two games at UMass before returning home to sweep a doubleheader from Rhode Island. Fordham has played just six games at home so far this season, but the Rams have won all six at Bahoshy Field.
The strength of Fordham's team lies in a potent offense that boasts a .316 average and 47 home runs, while averaging six runs per game.
Jamie LaBovick has been a dual star for the Rams as she leads Fordham with a .434 batting average and has hit in 22 consecutive games. LaBovick has also thrown 95 innings in the pitcher's circle where she carries a 10-8 record and 2.80 ERA as she has helped try to carry the load left by the graduation of former All-American Jen Mineau. Michelle Daubman has thrown the most innings for Fordham with 109.2. She is 12-4 with a 3.64 ERA and team-best 74 strikeouts.
In the run production department, Gabby Luety and Elise Fortier have combined for 24 home runs and 73 RBI.
With Mineau in the circle, Fordham won the A-10 tournament title in 2011 and advanced to the finals of the College Park, Md. Regional in 2010.
Lehigh leads the all-time series 15-8 and swept a doubleheader from Fordham last year at Kaufman Field, winning 7-2 and 4-2. Fordham took two from the Mountain Hawks in the teams' last meeting in the Bronx in 2011.
Wednesday's doubleheader begins at 3 p.m. from Bahoshy Field. Following Wednesday's twinbill, Lehigh returns home to host Army in a four-game Patriot League series Saturday and Sunday.
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