Holy Cross spoils Lehigh's Senior Day after rallying for extra-inning win

Sunday, May 6

Bethlehem, Pa.

12 PM

Lehigh University

22-24-1, 0

Holy Cross

12-33, 0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Holy Cross	0	1	0	0	2	0	2	4	9	16	1
Lehigh	2	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	5	14	1

Holy Cross spoils Lehigh's Senior Day after rallying for extra-inning win

5/6/2018 3:57:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh led Holy Cross 5-1 after four innings but the Crusaders scored the final eight runs, including four in the top of the eighth to spoil Senior Day at Leadership Park with a 9-5, eight-inning win over the Mountain Hawks on Sunday. Mandy McCarthy drilled a three-run home run as part of a four-run, eighth-inning, two-out rally to put Holy Cross ahead and give the Crusaders a win in their regular season finale.

"It was a situation where Holy Cross came to play and played hard today," Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan said. "They made plays and we didn't. We had plenty of opportunities to make plays on defense and we didn't do it. Their shortstop made two great plays that probably saved them four runs and their left fielder made a play to steal a double. The fact of the matter is they made plays and we didn't."

Senior Nicole Yozzo had a big Senior Day for the Mountain Hawks, going 5-for-5 with four stolen bases, but Lehigh concludes its regular season at 22-24-1 overall and 11-7 in the Patriot League. Yozzo broke Lehigh's single game stolen base record and tied the school single game hits record while also setting the Patriot League single season stolen base mark, surpassing 41 set by Boston University's Moriah Connolly last season. Yozzo enters the Patriot League Tournament with 44 stolen bases this season.

"Nicole had a tremendous day today," Troyan said. "It's fun to watch her play when her game is on."

Things started well for the Mountain Hawks as Yozzo led off the bottom of the first and promptly stole second. She moved to third on a ground out and scored on a ground out by sophomore Mary-Hannah Smith. Senior Carolyn Wright followed with a single, took second on a wild pitch and came around to score on an Allyson Dibsie single to give Lehigh a 2-0 lead after one.

Holy Cross (12-33, 5-13) pulled a run back in the top of the second on a solo home run by Taylor Moss but junior Emily Sorem worked out of a jam to keep the Mountain Hawks in front.

Yozzo's third hit of the game loaded the bases with one out in the fourth. Junior Ashley Rabago reached on an error to bring home a run and then Smith followed with a single up the middle, plating two more runs to give Lehigh a 5-1 lead.

As they did in the second inning, the Crusaders responded right after Lehigh scored. Holy Cross put up two runs in the fifth when Molly Neil scored after McCarthy reached on an error and then Savannah Young singled home Jackie Brewster.

A leadoff single from Brewster ignited a rally for Holy Cross in the seventh. McCarthy doubled her home two batters later and then Young singled in McCarthy with the tying run.

(5/6/2018) Softball vs. Holy Cross, 5/6/18

After Lehigh went down in order in the home seventh, Sorem quickly retired the first two batters in the eighth, but back-to-back singles by Brewster and Bella Jankowski put runners on the corners. McCarthy then capped a 3-for-4, five-RBI day by crushing a three-run home run to left center to put Holy Cross in front. Young and Moss followed with back-to-back doubles to provide an insurance run.

Lehigh put two on with one out in the bottom of the eighth but couldn't get the tying run to the plate. Yozzo and Smith (2-for-5) combined for half of Lehigh's 14 hits.

Katy Watson earned the win for Holy Cross with three innings of scoreless relief.

Sorem was tagged with the loss, allowing nine runs on 15 hits in 7.2 innings before giving way to senior Lindsay Phillips. Brewster, McCarthy and Young all had three hits for Holy Cross.

Troyan offered his thoughts on Lehigh's six-player senior class honored prior to Sunday's game, "Overall, our seniors had a pretty good day. "They started things out really well in that first inning. They've had a tremendous career as a class and still have an opportunity here to win a Patriot League championship."
The Mountain Hawks will be the No. 3 seed in the Patriot League Tournament and will play No. 2 Bucknell in the second game Thursday with game time set for 2:30 p.m. from BU Softball Field in Boston. Host Boston University will face No. 4 Army West Point at noon to kick off the three-day tournament.