Wednesday, March 14
Tampa, Fla.
10 AM
Lehigh University
3-11
4
vs
5
Butler
7-12
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
R
H
E
Lehigh
0
0
1
0
2
1
0
0
4
8
1
Butler
0
1
0
0
0
0
3
1
5
9
1
Mountain Hawks Drop Pair of Wednesday Matchups in Tampa
3/14/2018 4:09:00 PM | Softball
TAMPA, Fla. – The Lehigh softball team suffered a pair of late defeats on Wednesday afternoon, dropping a 5-4 decision in eight innings to Butler, and a 4-2 final to Quinnipiac. Senior Nicole Yozzo tallied three hits in the two games along with two runs scored and five steals in as many attempts. Payton Alsobrooks, Mary-Hannah Smith and Ashley Rabago collected two hits apiece, while Smith had three RBI and Rabago drove in two. The defeats drop the Mountain Hawks to 3-12 on the season.
Butler (7-12) struck first in game one with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the second inning against starter Emily Sorem, but the Mountain Hawks answered right back in the third to tie the game. Alsobrooks led off the frame with a single and was bunted to second by Brianna Gerhardt. After a Yozzo single, Rabago knocked in Alsobrooks from third with a RBI groundout to draw even at one.
Lehigh grabbed its first lead in the top of the fifth with some two-out magic. After two quick outs, Yozzo drew a walk and Rabago followed with a single. After separate steals moved them to second and third, Smith stepped up and beat out an infield single to the second baseman, scoring Yozzo from third and allowing Rabago to hustle around from second to make it a 3-1 game. Lehigh added an unearned run in the sixth as Allyson Dibsie reached on an error and scored two batters later on a knock by Gerhardt to hold a 4-1 lead.
Lehigh carried the three-run cushion into the bottom of the seventh before Butler struck for three runs to tie the game, all after two outs. Kaitlyn Doud led off with a double to center field. Sorem sandwiched a pair of strikeouts around a hit batsman, before issuing a walk to load the baes with two outs. Jenna Foreman stepped in and roped a two-run single to left field to cut it to 4-3, then Alyssa Garcia drove a two-strike pitch up the middle to tie the game at four.
With international tiebreak rules in effect, Lehigh advanced a runner to third in the top of the eighth but couldn't score. After two outs in the bottom of the inning, Butler's Sammy Andersen delivered the walk-off single to centerfield, scoring the placed runner from second.
Sorem went the distance in game one, allowing four earned runs and one walk while striking out six.
In game two against Quinnipiac (5-10), Lehigh jumped on top early with an unearned run in the bottom of the first. Rabago reached on an error with one out before stealing second, and coming home on a Smith single to center field. Starting pitcher Parker Boyd made the run stand up, cruising through the second and third innings, allowing just one base runner off a dropped third strike. Lehigh scored another run in the third inning to take a 2-0 lead as Yozzo singled with one out, stole twice and came in on an infield hit by Rabago.
Boyd escaped a jam in the fourth inning as Jen Stoll and Gerhardt doubled a runner off third on a line drive to end the inning, but the Bobcats later struck for two runs in the fifth inning to tie the game 2-2.
With the score tied into the seventh, the Bobcats strung together three consecutive singles to load the bases with one out. After a force out at home for the second out, Casey Herzog roped a two-out, two-run single through the right side to give QU the 4-2 lead. Herzog, who tossed a complete game in the circle, set Lehigh down in order in the bottom of the inning to finish off the win.
After a day off on Thursday, Lehigh will resume action in Tampa on Friday against Elon (10:30 a.m.) and South Florida (2 p.m.).
Butler (7-12) struck first in game one with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the second inning against starter Emily Sorem, but the Mountain Hawks answered right back in the third to tie the game. Alsobrooks led off the frame with a single and was bunted to second by Brianna Gerhardt. After a Yozzo single, Rabago knocked in Alsobrooks from third with a RBI groundout to draw even at one.
Lehigh grabbed its first lead in the top of the fifth with some two-out magic. After two quick outs, Yozzo drew a walk and Rabago followed with a single. After separate steals moved them to second and third, Smith stepped up and beat out an infield single to the second baseman, scoring Yozzo from third and allowing Rabago to hustle around from second to make it a 3-1 game. Lehigh added an unearned run in the sixth as Allyson Dibsie reached on an error and scored two batters later on a knock by Gerhardt to hold a 4-1 lead.
Lehigh carried the three-run cushion into the bottom of the seventh before Butler struck for three runs to tie the game, all after two outs. Kaitlyn Doud led off with a double to center field. Sorem sandwiched a pair of strikeouts around a hit batsman, before issuing a walk to load the baes with two outs. Jenna Foreman stepped in and roped a two-run single to left field to cut it to 4-3, then Alyssa Garcia drove a two-strike pitch up the middle to tie the game at four.
With international tiebreak rules in effect, Lehigh advanced a runner to third in the top of the eighth but couldn't score. After two outs in the bottom of the inning, Butler's Sammy Andersen delivered the walk-off single to centerfield, scoring the placed runner from second.
Sorem went the distance in game one, allowing four earned runs and one walk while striking out six.
In game two against Quinnipiac (5-10), Lehigh jumped on top early with an unearned run in the bottom of the first. Rabago reached on an error with one out before stealing second, and coming home on a Smith single to center field. Starting pitcher Parker Boyd made the run stand up, cruising through the second and third innings, allowing just one base runner off a dropped third strike. Lehigh scored another run in the third inning to take a 2-0 lead as Yozzo singled with one out, stole twice and came in on an infield hit by Rabago.
Boyd escaped a jam in the fourth inning as Jen Stoll and Gerhardt doubled a runner off third on a line drive to end the inning, but the Bobcats later struck for two runs in the fifth inning to tie the game 2-2.
With the score tied into the seventh, the Bobcats strung together three consecutive singles to load the bases with one out. After a force out at home for the second out, Casey Herzog roped a two-out, two-run single through the right side to give QU the 4-2 lead. Herzog, who tossed a complete game in the circle, set Lehigh down in order in the bottom of the inning to finish off the win.
After a day off on Thursday, Lehigh will resume action in Tampa on Friday against Elon (10:30 a.m.) and South Florida (2 p.m.).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: GRAVES, Alyssa (4-4)
L: Sorem, Emily (1-6)
Batting:
RBI: Rabago, Ashley 1 ; Smith, Mary-Hannah 2 ; Gerhardt, Brianna 1
SH: Gerhardt, Brianna 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Yozzo, Nicole 1 ; Rabago, Ashley 1 ; Dibsie, Allyson 1 ; Alsobrooks, Payton 1
SB: Yozzo, Nicole 3 ; Rabago, Ashley 1 ; Timberman, Rachel 2
Batting:
2B: DOUD, Kaitlin 1
HR: LACH, Alyssa 1
RBI: FOREMAN, Jenna 2 ; GARCIA, Alyssa 1 ; LACH, Alyssa 1 ; ANDERSEN, Sammy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: DIXON, Sarah 1 ; LACH, Alyssa 1 ; DOUD, Kaitlin 1 ; CANDOTTI, Christina 1 ; MORTON, Emma 1
SB: GARCIA, Alyssa 1
CS: GARCIA, Alyssa 1 ; MOORE, Maddie 1
HBP: POST, Ashley 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
C/OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
C/UT
/ Softball
C/IF
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballOF
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