Troyan unveils Lehigh's 2014 softball schedule

2014 Lehigh Softball Schedule

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Three early season tournaments, ten games against 2013 NCAA Tournament teams and the program's first trip to California since 1998 highlight the 2014 Lehigh softball schedule, announced Thursday by Mountain Hawks' head coach Fran Troyan.

Lehigh is coming off a 37-16-1 campaign in 2013 and claimed its second straight Patriot League regular season championship, but the Mountain Hawks fell one win short of a third straight tournament crown.

The Mountain Hawks will make early season trips to Florida and Southern California to prepare for the always challenging Patriot League slate as Lehigh seeks its eighth Patriot League title in 11 years in 2014.

"We have tried to put together a very ambitious and competitive schedule," said Troyan, who begins his 19th season as head coach. "I think that we've done that. We're not so much concerned with our record early in the season but at the same time we want to be competitive against strong competition."

The 2014 season begins with a trip to Florida for the Diamond 9 Classic in Orlando, February 21-23. Lehigh will face a pair of NCAA Tournament squads in its first weekend of play beginning with the season-opener against North Carolina State on February 21. The following day, the Mountain Hawks will face a South Alabama team that was the No. 13 seed in last year's regionals. Lehigh will also play games against regional rival Delaware and schedule newcomers Lamar and Northern Illinois in Florida.

"We are going to play some NCAA tournament-level teams early on," Troyan said. "NC State is very good and South Alabama may be the best team we face with the success they had last season in getting to the NCAA tournament."

Instead of its normal spring break trip to Florida, Lehigh will head west to California for 11 games in eight days at four different venues from March 1-8.

"We have enough players from California in the program that I felt like we needed to get out there so that their extended family members could see them play," Troyan explained." It helps our presence both as a softball program and as a university going to Southern California and we're playing some great teams out there as well."

The Mountain Hawks will start off by playing in the San Diego Classic, co-hosted by the University of San Diego and NCAA Regional participant San Diego State March 1-2. Lehigh's first games in California will be against Utah State and Illinois-Chicago at USD on March 1, while the following day Lehigh will meet Utah and Colorado State on San Diego State's campus.

Following a day off on March 3, Lehigh will play a single game at San Diego on March 4 before traveling north for a single game against Long Beach State a day later. The Mountain Hawks' California trip concludes with five games in three days at the LMU Invitational in Los Angeles, March 6-8. Lehigh will play three games against Saint Mary's and single games against Brown and the hosts, Loyola Marymount.

"We're all creatures of habit so it will be different going to California instead of our usual Florida trip, but we're very excited about it and we're putting a lot of effort into making sure our i's are dotted and our t's are crossed so that we can go out there and enjoy the time and compete at a high level," Troyan said. "It's a trip that the program and the players deserve to have."

Lehigh will return home from its spring break trip to open its home schedule with nine straight games at Kaufman Field. The Mountain Hawks will host Delaware State for four games with doubleheaders set for March 15 -16. Defending Ivy League champions Penn will visit for a doubleheader on March 19 in the final tune-up before Patriot League play begins.

With the addition of Boston University as the seventh Patriot League member that sponsors softball, the league schedule has been altered to feature Saturday doubleheaders, followed by a single game on Sundays.

"It's a new and interesting challenge," Troyan said of the new league structure. I personally liked the old format with four games in a weekend but it's a lot harder when you take out six league games from the season. We don't do too much differently and we'll manage the league weekends as best we can."

For Lehigh, Patriot League play begins when Colgate visits Kaufman Field for three games March 22-23.

The Mountain Hawks will take on Villanova for the first time since 2009 when the teams meet for a doubleheader March 26 along the Main Line. Lehigh will then cap a stretch of 12-of-14 games at home when rival Lafayette visits for three games March 29-30.

After a midweek trip to Rider (doubleheader April 2), Lehigh will head to Boston for its first road league series against a Boston University team that joins the league on the heels of a strong run in the America East Conference.

Lehigh will host a third game against a NCAA Regional participant from 2013 when Fordham visits for a single game on April 9, which will prep the Mountain Hawks for a trip to Bucknell for three games on April 12-13.

Former standout Lisa Sweeney '09 returns to Kaufman Field for the first time as head coach at Princeton when her Tigers visit for a doubleheader on April 16. Lehigh's final Patriot League home series will be against Holy Cross April 19-20.

Lehigh's final midweek doubleheader will be against perennial CAA and Northeast power Hofstra, April 23 on Long Island. With an odd number of Patriot League teams, Lehigh will be off from league play April 26-27 so instead the Mountain Hawks will play a pair of non-league twinbills. The Mountain Hawks will visit Manhattan for a doubleheader on April 26 before returning home to host Saint Francis (Pa.) the following day.

The Mountain Hawks will close out the regular season with three games at defending Patriot League champion Army May 3-4. The Patriot League Tournament will take place May 8-10 at the home field of the highest seed.

"We're excited that the whole league is taking a step forward," Troyan said. "Everyone is committing more and more resources to softball and we're expecting the league season to be very challenging. We're looking forward to Boston University coming in. They're a quality program. By playing all these better teams the hope is we're going to be better for it."

Lehigh will begin preseason workouts when students return to campus on Monday. The Mountain Hawks will open their season against North Carolina State at the Diamond 9 Classic in Orlando, Fla. on Friday February 21. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. The Mountain Hawks will also face Delaware on opening day, taking on the Blue Hens at 3 p.m.

Completed Event: Softball versus Lafayette on May 3, 2026 , Win , 8, to, 1

Completed Event: Softball versus Lafayette on May 2, 2026 , Loss , 4, to, 5

Completed Event: Softball versus Lafayette on May 2, 2026 , Loss , 9, to, 12

Completed Event: Softball at Villanova on April 28, 2026 , Win , 5, to, 0

Completed Event: Softball versus Hofstra on April 26, 2026 , Win , 7, to, 1

Completed Event: Softball versus Georgetown on April 26, 2026 , Win , 8, to, 6

Completed Event: Softball at Rutgers on April 24, 2026 , Loss , 3, to, 8

Lehigh University Athletics

Troyan unveils Lehigh's 2014 softball schedule

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