Mountain Hawks open Patriot League Tournament with 3-0 win over Army West Point

Thursday, May 7

12 PM

Lehigh University

37-7

Army West Point

23-26-1

Army West Point

Lehigh

Mountain Hawks open Patriot League Tournament with 3-0 win over Army West Point

5/7/2015 5:35:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

Patriot League Tournament Central

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Senior Emily Bausher dazzled in the circle and drove in the game's first run to lead the Lehigh softball team to a 3-0 win over Army West Point in the opening game of the Patriot League Tournament on Thursday at Leadership Park. Bausher had a clutch two-out hit in the fifth inning and senior Cassie Waggy followed with a two-run single, which was more than enough for Bausher in the circle.

"I thought we played very well today," Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan said. "I thought Emily pitched very well and that we played great defense behind her. We put a lot of pressure on Army the entire game and Emily and Cassie came up with big hits when we needed to score a few runs there."

(5/7/2015) Sofball vs. Army West Point, 5/7/15

Junior Morgan Decker finished 3-for-4 on the afternoon and scored the game's first run. Classmate Alexis Watanabe was 2-for-4 while Bausher was 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI. Freshman Nicole Yozzo, Waggy and senior Emma Capetz accounted for Lehigh's other three hits.

Lehigh had several chances in the early innings to plate the game's first run, but Army West Point's Kristen West continued to pitch herself out of jams. The Mountain Hawks finally broke through in the fifth as a Yozzo bunt single began the rally. After a Watanabe flyout, Decker singled and sophomore Vicky Lattanzio walked to load the bases. Junior Jessica Calvini followed by grounding to third as the Black Knights forced Yozzo at the plate. That set up Bausher, who hit a clutch two-out single to score Decker from third. Waggy followed with a long at-bat, eventually connecting on a two-run single to right field to make it 3-0 after five innings of play.

That's all Bausher would need as she retired six of the next seven batters to wrap up the three-hit shutout. Bausher walked just two on the day, striking out five to improve to 19-5 on the season. The shutout was her tenth of the season and her third in a row. Bausher has pitched 24 consecutive innings without allowing a run.

"She was very workmanlike," Troyan said of Bausher. "She did a great job getting ahead in the count. When Army was hitting the ball she was getting them to hit pitches she wanted them to hit."

With the win, the Mountain Hawks advance in the winner's bracket and will face No. 2 seed Bucknell at 10:30 a.m. on Friday. The Bison rallied for a 3-1 win over Colgate in Thursday's second game. All of Friday's Patriot League Tournament action will be broadcast on the Patriot League Network.