Mountain Hawks claim regular season title with 9-1 win at Army

Sunday, May 4

West Point, N.Y.

11:30 AM

Lehigh University

30-18, 15-3

Army

22-26, 9-9

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Lehigh	0	2	4	0	1	2	9	12	0
Army	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	1

Mountain Hawks claim regular season title with 9-1 win at Army

5/4/2014 2:11:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Lehigh softball team clinched its third straight Patriot League regular season championship with a 9-1, six-inning win over Army Sunday in the regular season finale for both teams at the Army Softball Complex. The Mountain Hawks fell behind 1-0 early but scored nine answered runs to sweep the three game series.

Junior Emily Bausher went 3-for-4 at the plate with her fourth home run of the season and freshman Vicky Lattanzio added three more RBIs to lead the Mountain Hawks, who finish the regular season at 30-18 overall and 15-3 in Patriot League games. The Mountain Hawks have now won at least 30 games in 14 straight seasons.

"I was pleased with how the girls came to play," explained Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan. "We went down early, which is fine, but we kept our composure. I thought we swung the bat really well and played great defense and between Emily and Ashley (Quigley) we pitched great today."

Lehigh will host the Patriot League Tournament beginning Thursday at Kaufman Field. The Mountain Hawks will open with the fourth seeded Black Knights of Army; while the other first round matchup features No. 2 seed Boston University and No. 3 seed Bucknell.

The Black Knights took an early 1-0 lead on a first inning RBI single by April Ortenzo but the Mountain Hawks took control from there.

Lattanzio drew a leadoff walk in the second and moved to third on a double to right center by Bausher. A wild pitch scored Lattanzio to tie the game at 1-1. Junior Cassie Waggy then hit a ground ball to first and Bausher beat the tag home to put the Mountain Hawks in front 2-1.

Lehigh broke the game open with four runs on five hits in the third inning. Sophomore Morgan Decker brought home classmate MacKenzie Velasquez with a single up the middle. Lattanzio then doubled to right center, plating pinch runner Lizzy Odren to make it 4-1 Mountain Hawks. Sophomore Jessica Calvini and junior Emma Capetz added RBI singles to cap the frame and put Lehigh in front 6-1 after two and a half innings.

Bausher added on to Lehigh's lead with a solo home run to right in the fifth, while in the sixth, Lattanzio gave the Mountain Hawks an eight run cushion with a two-out, two-run single to right in the sixth inning.

In the circle, Bausher went the first three innings, allowing a run on five hits, before giving way to senior Ashley Quigley, who allowed two hits in three scoreless innings. Quigley capped a 1-2-3 sixth by striking out Alyssa Strobehn to end the game.

Bausher was credited with her 13th victory of the season. Jules Steurer took the loss for Army, allowing five runs on four hits in 2.1 innings of work.

Lehigh finished the game with 12 hits with Lattanzio, Bausher and Calvini combining for seven of those 12.

The three-day Patriot League Tournament begins Thursday at Kaufman Field. While the schedule has not been finalized, Lehigh is expected to play Army in Thursday's first game with Boston University and Bucknell to follow.

"We're always excited to host," Troyan said. "This is truly anybody's game coming into this. Anybody can win the championship, one through four. Hopefully we come out and play well."