Saturday, February 22
Orlando, Fla.
1:15:00 PM
Lehigh University
vs
Lamar
Resilient Lehigh comes up short in 15-9 slugfest against No. 19 South Alabama
2/22/2014 7:51:00 PM | Softball
ORLANDO, Fla. – Day two of the Lehigh softball season and the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic brought a matchup with No. 19 South Alabama, a regional finalist from last year's NCAA tournament. The Jaguars flexed their muscles, scoring in all six of their at-bats, but the Mountain Hawks showed resiliency, battling back to avoid the eight-run rule and then climbing back within two runs after a two-hour, 24-minute delay for rain and lightning before ultimately falling 15-9.
Ten different Mountain Hawks recorded one hit in the game while sophomores Morgan Decker, Jessica Calvini and Carissa Zito each drove in a pair of runs. Blair Johnson went 4-for-4 with four RBI to lead South Alabama as the Jaguars improve to 10-1 on the season. Lehigh falls to 0-3. The Mountain Hawks were also scheduled to play Lamar on Saturday but more inclement weather forced the game to be halted and subsequently cancelled after half an inning of play.
Freshman Christine Campbell got the start in the circle for Lehigh but was touched up for six runs in the first two innings. Johnson opened the scoring with a one-out RBI single in the first inning and later capped the run with a RBI double to center in the second.
Lehigh began to battle back against USA freshman Holly McKinnon in the top of the third. Senior Jess Long led off with a walk and then moved to third on a double by freshman Ashley Cole. Sophomore MacKenzie Velasquez reached on a fielder's choice, allowing Long to score, and then two batters later Cole came home on a ground out to first base by Decker. Junior Emily Bausher delivered a two-out single to right center, scoring Velasquez to bring the Mountain Hawks within three.
South Alabama answered back with five runs in the next two frames. Senior Ashley Quigley replaced Campbell in the circle after a leadoff walk in the third. Gwen Jones scored from second on a bunt single from Taylor Rogers in the third inning and in the fourth, USA plated four more on three straight RBI extra base hits plus an RBI ground out to lead 11-3 after four innings.
Facing a loss via the eight run rule, the Mountain Hawks battled back to score six runs in the top of the fifth, sandwiched around the lengthy weather delay. Decker came up with runners on the corners and one out and singled to right field to score senior Kristin Taft. Two batters later Calvini doubled to right center plating Decker and Bausher to make the score 11-6 USA. Junior Cassie Waggy then brought Calvini home with a single down the right field line. A single by senior Lizzy Odren chased McKinnon from the circle but when Kaleigh Floore came in, lightning entered as well, followed by rain, forcing the delay.
When play resumed, Zito greeted Floore with a two-run double to center, which brought the Mountain Hawks within two at 11-9. After a walk to Cole, Hannah Campbell came on for the Jaguars and struck out Taft to end the inning.
South Alabama added two more runs in the fifth on a wild pitch and a RBI single by Johnson. In the sixth, USA plated two more on a double by Stephanie Pilkington, while Campbell worked around three base runners to keep Lehigh off the board.
McKinnon earned the win for USA despite allowing nine earned runs on eight hits in 4.2 innings of work. She walked two and struck out three. Campbell took the loss for Lehigh, allowing seven runs (three earned) on five hits in two-plus innings. Quigley allowed eight runs and 11 hits in her four innings, following a strong day on Friday.
The Mountain Hawks will close out action at the Citrus Classic Sunday morning when they face Mercer at 9:30 am. from the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Lehigh was originally scheduled to face Northern Illinois, but Saturday's inclement weather forced widespread changes to Sunday's schedule.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McKinnon, H. (2-0)
L: Campbell, Christine (0-1)
S: Campbell, H. (2)
Batting:
2B: Calvini, Jessica 1 ; Zito, Carissa 1 ; Cole, Ashley 1
RBI: Velasquez, MacKenzie 1 ; Decker, Morgan 2 ; Bausher, Emily 1 ; Calvini, Jessica 2 ; Waggy, Cassie 1 ; Zito, Carissa 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Velasquez, MacKenzie 1 ; Taft, Kristin 1 ; Decker, Morgan 1 ; Bausher, Emily 1 ; Calvini, Jessica 1 ; Waggy, Cassie 1 ; Odren, Lizzy 1 ; Long, Jessica 1 ; Cole, Ashley 1
Batting:
2B: Pilkington 1 ; Johnson, B. 1 ; Griffith, K. 1 ; Rathburn, C. 1
3B: Johnson, B. 1
RBI: Pilkington 2 ; Minahan, A. 1 ; Johnson, B. 4 ; Griffith, K. 1 ; Rathburn, C. 2 ; Herron, A. 1 ; Jones, G. 1 ; Rodgers, T. 2
SF: Herron, A. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pilkington 2 ; Minahan, A. 3 ; Johnson, B. 2 ; Griffith, K. 2 ; Rathburn, C. 2 ; Jones, G. 1 ; Breeden, A. 1 ; Messer, E. 2
SB: Pilkington 1 ; Minahan, A. 2 ; Jones, G. 1 ; Rodgers, T. 1 ; Messer, E. 2
HBP: Rodgers, T. 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
ph/rf
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
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