Saturday, April 25
12 PM
Lehigh University
31-7, 0
1
vs
2
Army West Point
22-22-1, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Army West Point
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
2
5
1
Lehigh
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
5
0
Lehigh rallies in game two to split Senior Day doubleheader vs. Army West Point
4/25/2015 6:27:00 PM | Softball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After dropping the opening game of a three-game series 2-1 and falling behind 1-0 in game two, the Lehigh softball team scored eight unanswered runs to defeat Army West Point 8-1 and earn a doubleheader split Saturday on Senior Day at Leadership Park.
Junior Alexis Watanabe was one of four Lehigh players to record two hits in the nightcap and she led the way with three runs batted in as the Mountain Hawks scored three in the second and five in the fifth to earn the victory.
With the split, Lehigh is now 32-7 overall and 12-2 in the Patriot League. The Mountain Hawks lead Colgate, which was swept in a doubleheader at Boston University, and Bucknell, which took two games at Holy Cross, by three games in the league standings with four remaining. Army, which is battling for a spot in the Patriot League Tournament, now stands at 22-23-1 and 9-8 in league games.
"Army really came to play today," Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan said. "I thought they did a very good job, especially in the first game. They made every single play that they possibly could make. The first game was a really a well-played Division I softball game and they happened to come out on top. I was very happy with how our team was resilient and fought back and played exceptionally well in the second game."
The Black Knights took a 1-0 lead after half an inning in game two as Kasey McCravey led off with a single, stole second, moved to third on a sacrifice and scored on a ground out by Kristen McPeek.
Lehigh broke through for three runs in the bottom of the second to take a 3-1 lead. Senior Cassie Waggy led off with a single and pinch runner Rachel Timberman moved to second on a passed ball. Junior Carissa Zito hit a long double off the left field fence to score Timberman to tie the game at one. Two batters later, Watanabe came up with the bases loaded and hit a hard shot off the glove of McCravey to score two runs and give the Mountain Hawks the lead.
The Mountain Hawks broke the game open with five runs in the fifth inning. Senior Emma Capetz led off with a single and an error on a sacrifice bunt attempt by Zito put runners on second and third. Junior MacKenzie Velasquez singled to right to score Capetz to put Lehigh up 4-1. A wild pitch allowed Zito to score Lehigh's fifth run, before Watanabe and junior Morgan Decker hit back-to-back RBI doubles to give the Mountain Hawks a 7-1 advantage. Waggy capped the inning with a RBI ground out, scoring Decker from third.
Sophomore Christine Campbell delivered a strong effort in the pitcher's circle, allowing a run on four hits to improve to 14-2 on the season. She struck out four and walked one.
Caroline Smith started for Army West Point and took the loss, allowing four runs on six hits in three innings. Smith went the first 1.1 innings and later re-entered. Kristen West held Lehigh in check in the opening game of the doubleheader, but gave up four runs in three innings in the nightcap. Smith and West combined to issue eight walks in game two of the doubleheader.
Watanabe, Decker, Capetz and Velasquez combined for eight of Lehigh's 11 hits in the nightcap.
In game one it was Lehigh racing to the early lead only to see Army West Point rally and the Mountain Hawks squander several opportunities to tie or go ahead.
Freshman Nicole Yozzo led off the bottom of the first by reaching second base on an error. With runners on the corners and one out, sophomore Vicky Lattanzio singled to center, scoring Yozzo to give Lehigh a 1-0 lead. The Mountain Hawks were unable to do any further damage and left two on in the inning.
Army West Point went in front with two runs in the top of the fourth inning, a lead in which West was able to hold. McCravey reached on a tough hop single to third base and scored on a double to left by Gladys Esparza-Gallegos. After a sacrifice bunt moved Esparza-Gallegos to third, Alee Rashenskas drove in the go-ahead run with a ground out to second.
Lehigh had base runners in each of the first six innings and had opportunities with two on in the first, third, fifth and six innings but was unable to push the tying run across. The Mountain Hawks left ten runners on base in the opener and 22 for the doubleheader.
West earned the win for Army allowing just one unearned run on five hits in seven innings. She walked five and struck out just one but evened her record at 8-8. Junior Jessica Calvini had two of Lehigh's five hits in the opener.
Senior Emily Bausher took the loss, allowing two runs on five hits in a complete game effort. She walked three and struck out seven but falls to 16-5.
Lehigh and Army West Point will wrap-up their series with a single game Sunday at noon from Leadership Park. The game will be broadcast on the Patriot League Network.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: West, Kristen (8-8)
L: Bausher, Emily (16-5)
Batting:
2B: Esparza-Gallegos, G 1
RBI: Esparza-Gallegos, G 1 ; Rashenskas, Alee 1
SH: McPeek, Kristen 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McCravey, Kasey 1 ; Esparza-Gallegos, G 1
CS: Megge, Hailey 1
Batting:
RBI: Lattanzio, Vicky 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Yozzo, Nicole 1
SB: Yozzo, Nicole 1
Game Leaders
rf/1b
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
cf/rf
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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P
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IF
/ SoftballUT
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IF
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IF
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IF
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OF
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C
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