Lehigh University Athletics
Friday, May 15
Norman, Okla.
1:30 PM
Lehigh University
vs
Texas A&M
Lehigh set for NCAA return at Norman Regional beginning Friday
5/13/2015 1:14:00 PM | Softball, Tickets
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh returns to the NCAA Tournament after a two-year hiatus to face a familiar foe in Texas A&M in a familiar location, Norman, Oklahoma. The Mountain Hawks won their 13th Patriot League Tournament title last weekend at Leadership Park and have won their last eight games.
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Norman was the site of Lehigh's first NCAA appearance in 2001, and its most recent in 2012. The Mountain Hawks will open regional play against Texas A&M for the third time in their ninth regional appearance. Lehigh owns a 3-1 record against Texas A&M and eliminated the Aggies from regionals in 2006 and 2009. No. 11 seed Oklahoma and Central Arkansas join Lehigh and Texas A&M in the four-team regional. The winner of this double-elimination regional will face the winner of the Tuscaloosa, Alabama regional in the Super Regionals next weekend. Â Lehigh has never won a regional, but reached the regional finals in both 2006 and 2009.
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After winning its fourth straight Patriot League regular season championship (and 20th overall), Lehigh captured its 13th tournament crown and its eighth in the last 12 years last weekend. The Mountain Hawks opened the tournament with a 3-0 shutout of Army West Point behind a three-hitter from senior Emily Bausher, who also drove in the go-ahead run. In Friday's winner's bracket game with Bucknell, Lehigh lost a 4-0 lead after giving up four unearned runs but junior Jessica Calvini's walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh plated Alexis Watanabe to give the Mountain Hawks a 5-4 win. Bausher fired a four-hitter in Saturday's championship game as Lehigh scored single runs in four of the first five innings before busting the game open with a four-run sixth to win 8-0 in six innings. Freshman Nicole Yozzo went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI. Bausher pitched all 20 innings of the tournament and did not allow an earned run as she was named Tournament MVP. Watanabe led Lehigh at the plate going 6-for-11 with two doubles, two RBI and three runs scored over three games.
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Statistically, Watanabe leads the Patriot League and ranks ninth nationally with a .469 batting average while Calvini leads the team with five home runs and Decker has a team-best 39 RBI. Lehigh's 1.50 team ERA ranks third nationally, while individually Bausher ranks sixth with a 1.13 ERA and sophomore Christine Campbell ranks 26th at 1.71.
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Bausher has put together one of the most decorated pitching careers in Lehigh and Patriot League softball history. A four-time all-league selection and two-time Pitcher of the Year, Bausher ranks second in both school and league annals with 654 career strikeouts, trailing just Lisa Sweeney '09 who has 928. With three wins in the Patriot League Tournament, Bausher moved into second place in school and league history with 66 career victories, behind Sweeney's 104. The New Egypt, N.J. native has a record-tying 11 shutouts this season and 26 for her career. Bausher was recently named Lehigh's Outstanding Graduating Female Athlete and its Outstanding Graduating Scholar-Athlete at its annual year end Athletics Convocation.
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Lehigh enters the NCAA Tournament with an impressive 39-7 overall record, good for an .848 win percentage, which ranks seventh nationally. With one more victory, Lehigh will post its fifth 40-win season in school history. The school record for wins in a season is 43, set by the 2006 squad that beat Texas A&M twice in regional play. That team finished 43-14. Lehigh also won 40 games in 2005 (41-10), 2004 (40-17-2) and 2012 (40-19). With just seven losses on the season, Lehigh enters the NCAA Tournament with its fewest losses since the 2005 squad entered regionals at 41-8.
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In 2006, the Mountain Hawks made national headlines by upsetting No. 13 seed Texas A&M 4-3 in their first game at the NCAA Amherst Regional, thus becoming the first Patriot League team to win a first round NCAA tournament game. The following day, the Mountain Hawks had a rematch with Texas A&M and proved the previous day's win was no fluke, as Lehigh eliminated the Aggies with a 4-3 win. Three years later the Mountain Hawks and Aggies were paired up again at NCAAs, this time meeting in Gainesville, Fla. Texas A&M edged Lehigh 1-0 in the opening game of the regional but the Mountain Hawks came back to eliminate the Aggies with a 3-2 win in game five.
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Texas A&M will make its 26th NCAA Tournament appearance after earning an at-large bid out of the SEC. The Aggies have appeared in 11 Women's College World Series and won national championships in 1982, 1983 and 1987. Texas A&M is appearing in the Norman Regional for the second straight year. The Aggies and Sooners met in the Super Regionals in 2013, A&M's first year in the SEC.
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This year coach Jo Evans' Aggies sport a 38-18 record. Texas A&M was 12-12 in the SEC and enters the NCAA Tournament following a 6-3 loss to South Carolina in the first round of the SEC Tournament. Tori Vidales leads Texas A&M's offense with a .356 average, 18 home runs and 52 RBI. Five pitchers have seen time in the circle with Rachel Fox the main option. Fox has thrown 214 innings, going 22-13 with a 3.21 ERA and 176 strikeouts. Lehigh and Texas A&M share one common opponent in Boston University. The Mountain Hawks were 3-0 against the Terriers, while the Aggies were 2-0.
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Oklahoma, the No. 11 national seed, enters the NCAAs as Big 12 champions with a 45-7 record. The Sooners have made nine Women's College World Series appearances and won national titles in 2000 and 2013. OU hasn't played since May 2-3 as its Bedlam series with Oklahoma State was rained out last weekend.
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The Sooners feature a high-powered offense that holds a .372 batting average with 99 home runs. Senior Lauren Chamberlain recently became the NCAA's career leader in home runs with 91. She has 19 this year along with 58 RBI. Shelby Pendley leads the Sooners in batting average (.436), home runs (24), and RBI (65) and also owns a 21-1 record in the circle. Paige Parker has been OU's top pitcher with a 24-5 record and 1.45 ERA with 199 strikeouts in 179 innings. Lehigh and Oklahoma's only common opponent is Boston University, who the Sooners beat 14-4 in February. Patty Gasso is in her 21st season as Oklahoma's head coach.
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Southland Conference Tournament champion Central Arkansas will make its first-ever NCAA appearance. The Bears knocked off Northwestern State on its home field to claim the title and improve to 35-19 on the season. Seventh-year head coach David Kuhn's team won four straight games in the Southland Tournament after being swept in its final regular season series.
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Sam Forrest leads UCA with a .354 batting average, while Jessie Taylor is the top run producer with 11 home runs and 55 RBI. Kylee Studioso has seen the majority of time in the circle, throwing 237 out of 349 innings and sporting a 26-12 record and 3.04 ERA. Lehigh and Central Arkansas have three common opponents in Delaware, Hofstra and Sacred Heart. The Mountain Hawks own wins over Delaware and Sacred Heart but dropped two games to Hofstra. The Bears split with Hofstra and beat Delaware, while losing to Sacred Heart.
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Lehigh owns a 6-16 record in NCAA Regional play. The Mountain Hawks have lost their last five NCAA games, with the last win coming against Texas A&M in 2009.
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The Mountain Hawks will face Texas A&M in game one of the regional, beginning at 12:30 p.m. CT from the OU Softball Complex. The contest will be televised on the SEC Network, while all other games in the Norman Regional will be streamed online via ESPN3.
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Streaming audio of all Lehigh NCAA Regional games will be available for free at Lehighsports.com/watch(.)
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NCAA Norman Regional (all times Central Daylight)
Friday, May 15
Game 1: Texas A&M (38-18) vs. LEHIGH (39-7), 12:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
Game 2: No. 11 Oklahoma (45-7) vs. Central Arkansas (35-19) (ESPN3)
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Saturday, May 16
Game 3: Winner game 1 vs. Winner game 2, 1:30 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 4: Loser game 1 vs. Loser game 2, 4 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 5: Loser game 3 vs. Winner game 4, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN3)
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Sunday, May 17
Game 6: Winner game 3 vs. Winner game 5, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 7: Winner game 6 vs. Loser game 6, 5 p.m. (if necessary) (ESPN3)
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh returns to the NCAA Tournament after a two-year hiatus to face a familiar foe in Texas A&M in a familiar location, Norman, Oklahoma. The Mountain Hawks won their 13th Patriot League Tournament title last weekend at Leadership Park and have won their last eight games.
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Norman was the site of Lehigh's first NCAA appearance in 2001, and its most recent in 2012. The Mountain Hawks will open regional play against Texas A&M for the third time in their ninth regional appearance. Lehigh owns a 3-1 record against Texas A&M and eliminated the Aggies from regionals in 2006 and 2009. No. 11 seed Oklahoma and Central Arkansas join Lehigh and Texas A&M in the four-team regional. The winner of this double-elimination regional will face the winner of the Tuscaloosa, Alabama regional in the Super Regionals next weekend. Â Lehigh has never won a regional, but reached the regional finals in both 2006 and 2009.
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After winning its fourth straight Patriot League regular season championship (and 20th overall), Lehigh captured its 13th tournament crown and its eighth in the last 12 years last weekend. The Mountain Hawks opened the tournament with a 3-0 shutout of Army West Point behind a three-hitter from senior Emily Bausher, who also drove in the go-ahead run. In Friday's winner's bracket game with Bucknell, Lehigh lost a 4-0 lead after giving up four unearned runs but junior Jessica Calvini's walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh plated Alexis Watanabe to give the Mountain Hawks a 5-4 win. Bausher fired a four-hitter in Saturday's championship game as Lehigh scored single runs in four of the first five innings before busting the game open with a four-run sixth to win 8-0 in six innings. Freshman Nicole Yozzo went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI. Bausher pitched all 20 innings of the tournament and did not allow an earned run as she was named Tournament MVP. Watanabe led Lehigh at the plate going 6-for-11 with two doubles, two RBI and three runs scored over three games.
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Statistically, Watanabe leads the Patriot League and ranks ninth nationally with a .469 batting average while Calvini leads the team with five home runs and Decker has a team-best 39 RBI. Lehigh's 1.50 team ERA ranks third nationally, while individually Bausher ranks sixth with a 1.13 ERA and sophomore Christine Campbell ranks 26th at 1.71.
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Bausher has put together one of the most decorated pitching careers in Lehigh and Patriot League softball history. A four-time all-league selection and two-time Pitcher of the Year, Bausher ranks second in both school and league annals with 654 career strikeouts, trailing just Lisa Sweeney '09 who has 928. With three wins in the Patriot League Tournament, Bausher moved into second place in school and league history with 66 career victories, behind Sweeney's 104. The New Egypt, N.J. native has a record-tying 11 shutouts this season and 26 for her career. Bausher was recently named Lehigh's Outstanding Graduating Female Athlete and its Outstanding Graduating Scholar-Athlete at its annual year end Athletics Convocation.
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Lehigh enters the NCAA Tournament with an impressive 39-7 overall record, good for an .848 win percentage, which ranks seventh nationally. With one more victory, Lehigh will post its fifth 40-win season in school history. The school record for wins in a season is 43, set by the 2006 squad that beat Texas A&M twice in regional play. That team finished 43-14. Lehigh also won 40 games in 2005 (41-10), 2004 (40-17-2) and 2012 (40-19). With just seven losses on the season, Lehigh enters the NCAA Tournament with its fewest losses since the 2005 squad entered regionals at 41-8.
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In 2006, the Mountain Hawks made national headlines by upsetting No. 13 seed Texas A&M 4-3 in their first game at the NCAA Amherst Regional, thus becoming the first Patriot League team to win a first round NCAA tournament game. The following day, the Mountain Hawks had a rematch with Texas A&M and proved the previous day's win was no fluke, as Lehigh eliminated the Aggies with a 4-3 win. Three years later the Mountain Hawks and Aggies were paired up again at NCAAs, this time meeting in Gainesville, Fla. Texas A&M edged Lehigh 1-0 in the opening game of the regional but the Mountain Hawks came back to eliminate the Aggies with a 3-2 win in game five.
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Texas A&M will make its 26th NCAA Tournament appearance after earning an at-large bid out of the SEC. The Aggies have appeared in 11 Women's College World Series and won national championships in 1982, 1983 and 1987. Texas A&M is appearing in the Norman Regional for the second straight year. The Aggies and Sooners met in the Super Regionals in 2013, A&M's first year in the SEC.
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This year coach Jo Evans' Aggies sport a 38-18 record. Texas A&M was 12-12 in the SEC and enters the NCAA Tournament following a 6-3 loss to South Carolina in the first round of the SEC Tournament. Tori Vidales leads Texas A&M's offense with a .356 average, 18 home runs and 52 RBI. Five pitchers have seen time in the circle with Rachel Fox the main option. Fox has thrown 214 innings, going 22-13 with a 3.21 ERA and 176 strikeouts. Lehigh and Texas A&M share one common opponent in Boston University. The Mountain Hawks were 3-0 against the Terriers, while the Aggies were 2-0.
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Oklahoma, the No. 11 national seed, enters the NCAAs as Big 12 champions with a 45-7 record. The Sooners have made nine Women's College World Series appearances and won national titles in 2000 and 2013. OU hasn't played since May 2-3 as its Bedlam series with Oklahoma State was rained out last weekend.
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The Sooners feature a high-powered offense that holds a .372 batting average with 99 home runs. Senior Lauren Chamberlain recently became the NCAA's career leader in home runs with 91. She has 19 this year along with 58 RBI. Shelby Pendley leads the Sooners in batting average (.436), home runs (24), and RBI (65) and also owns a 21-1 record in the circle. Paige Parker has been OU's top pitcher with a 24-5 record and 1.45 ERA with 199 strikeouts in 179 innings. Lehigh and Oklahoma's only common opponent is Boston University, who the Sooners beat 14-4 in February. Patty Gasso is in her 21st season as Oklahoma's head coach.
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Southland Conference Tournament champion Central Arkansas will make its first-ever NCAA appearance. The Bears knocked off Northwestern State on its home field to claim the title and improve to 35-19 on the season. Seventh-year head coach David Kuhn's team won four straight games in the Southland Tournament after being swept in its final regular season series.
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Sam Forrest leads UCA with a .354 batting average, while Jessie Taylor is the top run producer with 11 home runs and 55 RBI. Kylee Studioso has seen the majority of time in the circle, throwing 237 out of 349 innings and sporting a 26-12 record and 3.04 ERA. Lehigh and Central Arkansas have three common opponents in Delaware, Hofstra and Sacred Heart. The Mountain Hawks own wins over Delaware and Sacred Heart but dropped two games to Hofstra. The Bears split with Hofstra and beat Delaware, while losing to Sacred Heart.
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Lehigh owns a 6-16 record in NCAA Regional play. The Mountain Hawks have lost their last five NCAA games, with the last win coming against Texas A&M in 2009.
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The Mountain Hawks will face Texas A&M in game one of the regional, beginning at 12:30 p.m. CT from the OU Softball Complex. The contest will be televised on the SEC Network, while all other games in the Norman Regional will be streamed online via ESPN3.
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Streaming audio of all Lehigh NCAA Regional games will be available for free at Lehighsports.com/watch(.)
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NCAA Norman Regional (all times Central Daylight)
Friday, May 15
Game 1: Texas A&M (38-18) vs. LEHIGH (39-7), 12:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
Game 2: No. 11 Oklahoma (45-7) vs. Central Arkansas (35-19) (ESPN3)
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Saturday, May 16
Game 3: Winner game 1 vs. Winner game 2, 1:30 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 4: Loser game 1 vs. Loser game 2, 4 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 5: Loser game 3 vs. Winner game 4, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN3)
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Sunday, May 17
Game 6: Winner game 3 vs. Winner game 5, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 7: Winner game 6 vs. Loser game 6, 5 p.m. (if necessary) (ESPN3)
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