Saturday, May 20
Los Angeles, Calif.
7:30PM ET
Lehigh University
36-20
8
vs
10
Cal State Fullerton
34-22
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Cal State Fullerton
2
3
0
0
1
4
0
10
16
1
Lehigh
5
0
2
0
1
0
0
8
15
2
Lehigh Ends Season with Hard-Fought 10-8 Slugfest Against Cal Sate Fullerton
5/21/2017 1:07:00 AM | Softball
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Lehigh softball team's season came to an end on Saturday night in the NCAA Regionals with a hard-fought 10-8 loss to Cal State Fullerton. Every member of the Lehigh starting nine registered a hit, and five Mountain Hawks had two hits apiece including Ashley Cole, Ashley Rabago, Katie Shultz, Brianna Gerhardt and Rachel Timberman. Cole and Gerhardt had two RBIs apiece junior Lindsay Phillips had a hit and two runs scored off the bench. Junior Nicole Yozzo also reached base three times with a hit and two walks. Senior Christine Campbell started and took a no-decision, allowing three earned runs on eight hits while striking out two in different stints in the circle totaling 3.2 innings. Sophomore Emily Sorem was the pitcher of record, allowing five earned on eight hits over 3.1 innings. The two teams combined for 31 hits in the three-hour game as Lehigh ends its season at 36-20, while Fullerton improves to 34-22.
"They scored a couple runs in the first inning, but we scored five runs right after that," said head coach Fran Troyan. "And that set the tone to tell Cal State Fullerton that we were going to fight, scratch and claw as hard as we could. We did, and I give them credit because so did they. It was one tremendous, spirited softball game, and one that the NCAA can be proud of.
"For the younger players, it gives them a taste of what it's like here," Troyan said. "Hopefully that will motivate them to get back. We can never take it for granted because winning the Patriot League Tournament is never easy, but I have a feeling the players we have returning will sort out a way to get us back here in the very near future."
Fullerton opened the scoring with a pair of unearned runs with two outs in the top of the first. The Mountain Hawks responded with some two-out magic of their own in the bottom of the inning. After two quick outs, Mary-Hannah Smith lined a single to left field, starting a string of seven consecutive Mountain Hawks to reach base. Vicky Lattanzio followed with a single to right, moving Smith to third. Wright and Rabago both followed with back-to-back knocks to plate Smith and Lattanzio, respectively, to knot the game 2-2. Shultz followed by lining a single into right-center to plate Wright with the go-ahead run, before Gerhardt bounced one through the left side for a two-run single to make it a 5-2 game.
Fullerton came right back with three runs in the top of the second, chasing Campbell from the game. After a leadoff single and a sac bunt, Delynn Rippy homered right field to cut the Lehigh lead down to one, before Ariana Williams singled, stole second, and scored on a single by Alexis Gonzalez to tie the game at five. Sorem entered the game for Lehigh and induced a groundout to end the inning.
Lehigh stranded a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the second and the Titans put two runners in scoring position in the third with two singles and a Lehigh throwing error. But, Sorem came back and used a pop out to shallow center field and a pop out to shortstop to escape the jam.
Shultz knocked her second single of the game to right field with one out in the third inning, stole second and moved over to third on a Timberman single before leaving the game with an injury. After a walk to Yozzo loaded the bases, Cole beat out an infield bouncer to plate Timberman and pinch runner Phillips to put Lehigh back up 7-5.
Fullerton used a single, hit by pitch and walk to load the bases with one out in the fourth inning, but Sorem once again rose to the occasion by knocking down a comebacker and getting the force out at home, then inducing a fly out to right to escape.
Lehigh went quietly in the bottom of the frame before Fullerton got a run back in the fifth, highlighted by a pair of bloop singles to plate a two-out run and make it 7-6.
Phillips led off the bottom of the fifth with a hit and was sacrificed to second by Timberman. Gerhardt then drove a long fly ball off the center field wall, scoring Phillips to make it a two-run game once again. Despite loading the bases with one out, Lehigh did not score again following a pop out and fielder's choice.
After a leadoff single and steal from Richard in the sixth, Brooke Clemetson drove a double off the top of the wall in center to cut it to 8-7. After a walk and hit by pitch loaded the bases, Lehigh turned back to Campbell who reentered to face Sydney Colenzo. Colenzo tapped one out in front of the plate, going far enough to allow the runner from third to avoid the tag and score to knot the game at 8-8. Campbell rebounded to induce a pop out to shallow left and a force out at home, before Williams drove a two-out single to left field, scoring two runners to put Fullerton ahead for good 10-8.
Lehigh put two runners on base in the seventh with a leadoff walk from Yozzo, and Lattanzio reaching on an error with two outs, but the rally fell short with a game ending pop out to the catcher.
"In order for any team, no matter what sport, to compete at the highest level you've got to have strong relationships between all of the players and the coaches," Troyan said. "Having a strong relationship is not easy, but our girls certainly did that and it really paid dividends for us this year."
The contest marked the last game in a Lehigh uniform for the team's three seniors – Lattanzio, Cole and Campbell.
"They've taken a pretty strong program and made it even better," Troyan said. "They have improved the culture of the whole program. Part of our culture now is just a competitive spirit where we fight the entire seven innings. And that's certainly a legacy they're going to leave within this program…It's a fighting competitive spirit that they have built."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kessler, K (20-8)
L: Sorem, Emily (11-9)
Batting:
2B: Brannan, S 1
HR: Rippy, D 1
RBI: Rippy, D 2 ; Williams, A 3 ; Gonzalez, A 1 ; Richard, Z 2 ; Brannan, S 1 ; Colenzo, S 1
SH: Colenzo, S 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rippy, D 3 ; Williams, A 2 ; Clemetson, B 1 ; Brannan, S 1 ; Randall, E 2 ; Colenzo, S 1
SB: Williams, A 3 ; Clemetson, B 1
HBP: Richard, Z 1 ; Brannan, S 1 ; Randall, E 1
Batting:
2B: Timberman, Rachel 1
RBI: Cole, Ashley 2 ; Wright, Carolyn 1 ; Rabago, Ashley 1 ; Schultz, Katie 1 ; Gerhardt, Brianna 2 ; Timberman, Rachel 1
SH: Gerhardt, Brianna 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Smith, Mary-Hannah 1 ; Lattanzio, Vicky 1 ; Wright, Carolyn 1 ; Rabago, Ashley 1 ; Schultz, Katie 1 ; Phillips, Lindsay 2 ; Timberman, Rachel 1
SB: Yozzo, Nicole 2 ; Schultz, Katie 1
Game Leaders
dp/rf
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
P
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballC/IF
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballLehigh Sports Central: Softball
Wednesday, April 30
2025 Season Preview: Softball
Thursday, February 06
Lehigh Sports Central: Softball
Wednesday, April 17
