Friday, February 24
Orlando, Fla.
11:00:00 AM
Lehigh University
vs
Morgan State
Mountain Hawks to open 2017 campaign at Citrus Classic beginning Friday
2/23/2017 2:11:00 PM | Softball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh softball team is set to begin its season this weekend at the Citrus Classic in Orlando, Florida. The Mountain Hawks will play five games from Feb. 24-26, including a matchup with No. 3 Florida on Sunday.
Lehigh comes into this season losing five seniors from last year's team that went 36-16 a season ago, including some of its top hitters in Morgan Decker, MacKenzie Velasquez and Alexis Watanabe. The Mountain Hawks do return their two top pitchers from last year in senior Christine Campbell and sophomore Emily Sorem, with the addition of freshman Parker Boyd.
Among the team's top returning hitters are junior outfielder Katie Schultz, who hit .344 last year with 23 RBIs, and junior catcher Carolyn Wright, who hit .326 with 19 RBIs. Senior Vicky Lattanzio returns as the top run producer with 37 RBIs a season ago, to go along with a .323 average and 14 doubles.
Lehigh was picked as the top team in the Patriot League Preseason Poll. The team also had four players — Campbell, Wright, Lattanzio and junior outfielder Nicole Yozzo — named to the Preseason All-League team.
The Mountain Hawks' first opponent in the Citrus Classic will be Morgan State, which comes into the game with a 4-2 record. This will be the first meeting ever between these two schools.
Their second game Friday (3:30 p.m. start) will be against Ball State, which has already compiled a 3-7 record. Most recently, the Cardinals went 2-3 last weekend at Arizona's Wildcat Invitational. Lehigh lost the only meeting between the two schools, which came in 2009.
Lehigh will play Georgia Southern in its first of two games Saturday, beginning at 3:30 p.m. Georgia Southern, which has a 3-6 record so far, most recently lost to No. 7 LSU by just three runs. Lehigh and Georgia Southern have never met in softball.
The Mountain Hawks will play Syracuse in its second game Saturday, with first pitch set for approximately 5:45 p.m. Syracuse holds a 6-3 record thus far, including a 3-1 showing last weekend at the FAU Tournament. The Orange claimed the only previous meeting with Lehigh by a 6-1 score in Allentown, Pa. in 2005.
Florida, likely Lehigh's toughest opponent of the season, already has a 10-1 record this season and will be Lehigh's final opponent in the Citrus Classic when the teams meet Sunday at 9:30 a.m. The 2014 and 2015 national champion Gators were the No. 1 seed in last year's NCAA Tournament but were beaten in the Super Regional round. Lehigh lost the only meeting between the two schools, which came in the finals of the 2009 Gainesville Regional.
Lehigh's opener against Morgan State will begin at 11 a.m. on Friday.
Next weekend, Lehigh will head to the Homewood Suites by Hilton RDU/RTP Invitational, March 3-5 in Raleigh, N.C. where the Mountain Hawks will play five games in three days against Fordham, Rutgers and host North Carolina State.
Story by Austin Vitelli '17
Lehigh comes into this season losing five seniors from last year's team that went 36-16 a season ago, including some of its top hitters in Morgan Decker, MacKenzie Velasquez and Alexis Watanabe. The Mountain Hawks do return their two top pitchers from last year in senior Christine Campbell and sophomore Emily Sorem, with the addition of freshman Parker Boyd.
Among the team's top returning hitters are junior outfielder Katie Schultz, who hit .344 last year with 23 RBIs, and junior catcher Carolyn Wright, who hit .326 with 19 RBIs. Senior Vicky Lattanzio returns as the top run producer with 37 RBIs a season ago, to go along with a .323 average and 14 doubles.
Lehigh was picked as the top team in the Patriot League Preseason Poll. The team also had four players — Campbell, Wright, Lattanzio and junior outfielder Nicole Yozzo — named to the Preseason All-League team.
The Mountain Hawks' first opponent in the Citrus Classic will be Morgan State, which comes into the game with a 4-2 record. This will be the first meeting ever between these two schools.
Their second game Friday (3:30 p.m. start) will be against Ball State, which has already compiled a 3-7 record. Most recently, the Cardinals went 2-3 last weekend at Arizona's Wildcat Invitational. Lehigh lost the only meeting between the two schools, which came in 2009.
Lehigh will play Georgia Southern in its first of two games Saturday, beginning at 3:30 p.m. Georgia Southern, which has a 3-6 record so far, most recently lost to No. 7 LSU by just three runs. Lehigh and Georgia Southern have never met in softball.
The Mountain Hawks will play Syracuse in its second game Saturday, with first pitch set for approximately 5:45 p.m. Syracuse holds a 6-3 record thus far, including a 3-1 showing last weekend at the FAU Tournament. The Orange claimed the only previous meeting with Lehigh by a 6-1 score in Allentown, Pa. in 2005.
Florida, likely Lehigh's toughest opponent of the season, already has a 10-1 record this season and will be Lehigh's final opponent in the Citrus Classic when the teams meet Sunday at 9:30 a.m. The 2014 and 2015 national champion Gators were the No. 1 seed in last year's NCAA Tournament but were beaten in the Super Regional round. Lehigh lost the only meeting between the two schools, which came in the finals of the 2009 Gainesville Regional.
Lehigh's opener against Morgan State will begin at 11 a.m. on Friday.
Next weekend, Lehigh will head to the Homewood Suites by Hilton RDU/RTP Invitational, March 3-5 in Raleigh, N.C. where the Mountain Hawks will play five games in three days against Fordham, Rutgers and host North Carolina State.
Story by Austin Vitelli '17
Players Mentioned
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