Wednesday, April 5
3PM
Lehigh University
14-15
3
vs
1
Saint Joseph's
9-19
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
St. Joseph's
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
5
1
Lehigh
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
3
11
3
Mountain Hawks pull out two tightly contested games to even season record
4/5/2017 8:59:00 PM | Softball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - In a day dominated by pitching from both the Lehigh and Saint Joseph's softball teams, it was the Mountain Hawks who prevailed in both ends of a doubleheader Wednesday at Leadership Park. Senior Christine Campbell allowed only one run in nine innings to lead the Mountain Hawks to a 3-1 victory in game one and sophomore Emily Sorem went the distance in game two as Lehigh won 2-1.
Junior Carolyn Wright drove in four of the five runs for Lehigh on the day, including a two-run extra-inning walk-off home run in the first game. Fellow junior Cassie Lajeunesse drove in the other run for Lehigh with a ground out in the fifth inning of game two.
The sweep also gets Lehigh to .500 on the season at 15-15.
"Carolyn did a great job coming through in the clutch, two times," Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan said. "Cassie Lajeunesse had a great ground ball out to get that run in. Christine (Campbell) pitched great and Emily Sorem pitched great as well. We're trying to figure out how to win and this really helps."
Lehigh took the early lead in game one when Wright was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the first, which scored Ashley Cole, who had reached base on an infield single earlier in the inning.
After a couple of scoreless innings, Saint Joseph's was able to tie the game thanks to Amanda Kulp and her speed. Kulp had a bunt single, stole second, and then scored on an infield single by Sarah Ostaszewski.
In the bottom of the seventh, Lehigh had a chance to end the game, loading the bases with one out, but Hawks' starter Ashley Ventura struck out Wright and freshman Reva Alderman to end the threat.
In the ninth, sophomore Ashley Quidolit Rabago singled with one out before Wright redeemed herself and smacked a two-run game-winning home run over the left-center field fence. It was her second home run this season, capping a 2-for-3 effort in which Wright reached base in four out of five plate appearances.
Campbell improved to 9-4 on the season for the Mountain Hawks, striking out a season-high eight and only allowing five hits. She was also able to wiggle out of trouble a couple of times, including the seventh inning when after allowing a leadoff double and a sacrifice bunt, she was able to retire the next two batters to keep the game tied.
Lehigh out-hit Saint Joseph's 11-5 in the opener but the Mountain Hawks left 14 runners on base.
Sorem dueled with Madison Clarke of Saint Joseph's in game two with both pitches matching zeroes through four and a half innings. Wright started the inning with a leadoff walk and Alderman followed with a single to right for Lehigh's first hit of the game. With runners on second and third and one out, Lajeunesse knocked in Brianna Gerhardt on a groundout to give Lehigh the 1-0 lead.
Wright added an important insurance run in the sixth with an RBI single scoring Cole who had doubled to lead off the inning.
Saint Joseph's was able to get a run back in the seventh, but Sorem stranded runners on first and second by inducing a foul pop-up and a groundout to third to end the game.
"It's a growing process and a maturing process," Troyan said. "I feel like we're moving in the right direction. As a coach in a program like ours we want them to move a little quicker than they are but they are maturing slowly but steadily."
Sorem finished the day with four strikeouts and just the one run allowed to improve to 5-6 this season.
Saint Joseph's (9-20) out-hit Lehigh 7-3 in the nightcap.
Lehigh continues its seven-game home stand when the Mountain Hawks welcome Bucknell to Leadership Park for a three-game series between the top two teams in the Patriot League standings. The Mountain Hawks and Bison will play a doubleheader Saturday beginning at noon and a single game Sunday at noon with all three games slated to be broadcast on the Patriot League Network.
Story by Adam Grossman
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Campbell, Christine (9-4)
L: VENTURA, Ashley (6-8)
Batting:
2B: GROBER, Taryn 1
RBI: OSTASZEWSKI, Sarah 1
SH: KAPALA, Molly 1
Base Running:
RUNS: KULP, Amanda 1
SB: KULP, Amanda 1
CS: KULP, Amanda 1
Batting:
HR: Wright, Carolyn 1
RBI: Wright, Carolyn 3
SH: Lajeunesse, Cassie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cole, Ashley 1 ; Rabago, Ashley 1 ; Wright, Carolyn 1
SB: Rabago, Ashley 1 ; Gerhardt, Brianna 1
HBP: Wright, Carolyn 1 ; Timberman, Rachel 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
IF/OF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
C/IF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballC
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