Saturday, March 26
12PM
Lehigh University
17-7, 1-0
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Lafayette
6-14, 0-1
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Mountain Hawks rally to earn doubleheader sweep of Lafayette in league, home opener
3/26/2016 6:00:00 PM | Softball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Junior Christine Campbell turned in a pair of strong pitching performances to lead the Lehigh softball to a pair of wins over Lafayette in the Patriot League opener for both teams Saturday at Leadership Park. Campbell carried a no-hitter into the sixth and scattered three hits overall as Lehigh took the opener 7-1. In game two, Campbell delivered 3.2 innings of scoreless, one-hit relief and sophomore Carolyn Wright's RBI infield single gave the Mountain Hawks a come-from-behind 5-4, nine inning victory.
"(Christine) did a tremendous job in the first game," Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan said. "She ran into some trouble with a couple hit batters and a walk at the end of the first game, but what I'm most proud of is that second game where she came on and was in total command. We needed her to do that in that situation. We fought so hard to get back to tie it up that we couldn't afford to get behind. She did a great job in that second game coming in and holding things steady for us."
Wright's game-winning RBI capped a 3-for-4, three RBI showing in the nightcap to lead the Mountain Hawks, who picked up the doubleheader sweep in their home debut and improved to 18-7 overall and 2-0 in the Patriot League.
Lafayette, which squandered an early 4-0 lead in the nightcap, falls to 6-15 overall and 0-2 in the league.
In game one, Campbell allowed just a leadoff walk to Miranda Skurla through the first five innings. Campbell hit two batters in the sixth and lost the no-hit bid on Sam Sweigart's single through the left side with two outs. The single loaded the bases, but Campbell got Allison Brown to ground into an inning-ending fielder's choice.
Lehigh jumped on Lafayette with five runs in the first three innings, but left 11 runners on base and was never able to get an eight-run advantage to end the game early. The first three Mountain Hawks reached against Stephanie Thomas in the first, but after a comebacker started a 1-2-3 double play, sophomore Katie Schultz delivered a two-out, two-run single to give Lehigh a 2-0 lead after one inning.
Sophomore Lindsay Phillips belted her first career home run, a solo shot to left, in the second inning to put Lehigh up 3-0 but the Mountain Hawks left the bases loaded.
In the third, back-to-back one-out doubles by seniors Carissa Zito and Jessica Calvini chased Thomas and put Lehigh up 4-0. Phillips followed with a RBI fielder's choice to move Lehigh's lead to five.
Lafayette reliever Lindsey Cherry limited the damage from there, allowing just single unearned runs in the fifth and sixth innings on throwing errors by catcher Maddie Wensel with runners on third base.
Jenna Orlando's RBI double in the seventh put the Leopards on the board before Campbell shut the door. Campbell finished with a line of one run on three hits with two walks, two strikeouts and two hit batters.
Sophomore Nicole Yozzo had three of Lehigh's 12 hits in the opener, with Schultz, Calvini and Phillips each adding two.
Game two saw the visiting Leopards jump on freshman Emily Sorem for four runs in the first three innings. Brooke Wensel opened the scoring with a two-out RBI single in the first inning, while pitcher Kristyn Marinelli helped her cause with a RBI double in the second. Rebecca Dvorak's second double of the game drove in two runs as Lafayette scored four runs off six hits and three walks early on.
Lehigh used a two-out rally in the bottom of the fourth to pull even at 4-4. The Mountain Hawks loaded the bases with no outs before Marinelli induced another 1-2-3 double play. Wright came up with two on and two out and dunked a single down the left field line, scoring two runs to put Lehigh within 4-2. Calvini then singled home Wright before sophomore Rachel Timberman drove in the tying run with a double to left field, her first extra-base hit and RBI of the season.
Lafayette threatened to take the lead in the sixth following a walk, a sacrifice and an error. Troyan summoned Campbell from the bullpen and after an infield single loaded the bases with one out, Campbell got out of trouble thanks to a force play at home plate and a lineout to left.
The Mountain Hawks put runners on base in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings but could not score, meanwhile, Campbell retired the next 11 batters after the infield single to the first batter she faced.
Senior Alexis Watanabe led off the bottom of the ninth by being hit by a pitch. One out singles by junior Vicky Lattanzio and senior MacKenzie Velasquez loaded the bases for Lehigh. Wright re-entered to bat for Zito while Lafayette pulled Marinelli for Cherry. Wright hit a slow ground ball up the middle for an infield single, allowing Watanabe to score the winning run.
Wright posted three of Lehigh's 13 hits, while Lattanzio, Velasquez and senior Morgan Decker each had two.
"We have good players up and down the lineup and people will see that this year," Troyan said. "We still have our usual suspects like Alexis Watanabe and Morgan Decker but anyone in our lineup one through nine is capable of getting a big hit. Carolyn Wright certainly had a very nice game today with three RBIs and a very important game for her development."
Campbell improves to 11-3 with the two victories. Sorem finished with a final line of four runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings. She walked five and struck out three.
Marinelli took the loss for Lafayette.
"Any time you win a couple of league games, that's always a good thing," Troyan said. "Lafayette is a much improved team. Coach Varner has done a great job so we're very pleased to pick up a couple of wins against Lafayette today."
Lehigh and Lafayette will wrap-up their series with a single game Sunday at Leadership Park with game time set for noon. Streaming video of the contest will be available on the Patriot League Network.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Campbell, Christine (10-3)
L: Thomas, Stephanie (1-8)
Batting:
2B: Orlando, Jenna 1
RBI: Orlando, Jenna 1
SH: Marinelli, Kristyn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Skurla, Miranda 1
HBP: Gornick, Bryn 1 ; Orlando, Jenna 1
Batting:
2B: Schultz, Katie 1 ; Zito, Carissa 1
3B: Calvini, Jessica 1
HR: Phillips, Lindsay 1
RBI: Schultz, Katie 2 ; Calvini, Jessica 1 ; Phillips, Lindsay 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Watanabe, Alexis 1 ; Decker, Morgan 1 ; Schultz, Katie 1 ; Zito, Carissa 1 ; Calvini, Jessica 1 ; Phillips, Lindsay 2
SB: Rabago, Ashley 1 ; Velasquez, MacKenzie 1 ; Zito, Carissa 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
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RBI
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AB
4
R
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H
2
RBI
2
1b/dp
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
IF/OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
UT
/ SoftballIF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
C
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
C
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