Friday, February 22
South Orange, N.J.
12:00 PM
Lehigh University
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at
4
Seton Hall
5-5
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6
7
R
H
E
Lehigh
0
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4
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8
16
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Seton Hall
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1
Mountain Hawks pound out 32 hits in opening day split at Seton Hall
2/22/2019 7:36:00 PM | Softball
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Friday marked opening day for the Lehigh softball team but the Mountain Hawks bats were in midseason form as Lehigh split a doubleheader with Seton Hall at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field. The Mountain Hawks scored seven runs spanning the second and third innings to take the opener 8-4 then took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh before Janae Barracato's three-run home run gave the Pirates the 5-4 victory.
Lehigh finished the day with 32 hits, tallying 16 in each game. Freshman Jaelynn Chesson led the charge for the Mountain Hawks, going 7-for-8 on the day with two runs scored and two RBIs. Chesson was 4-for-4 in game two. Senior Jennifer Stoll added five hits in seven at-bats. The Mountain Hawks also stole 11 bases on the day, including 10 in game one.
"Our offense, from a hitting perspective, was very good," Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan said. "We really need to clean up our base running. We missed some signs today. The good news is we got a couple of games in but we have a lot of work ahead of us as well."
Lehigh raced to a 3-0 lead in game one, scoring three runs without hitting the ball out of the infield in the second inning. With two on and two out, senior Ashley Rabago reached on an infield single, plating Stoll with the Mountain Hawks' first run of the season. An infield hit by sophomore Payton Alsobrooks brought home a second run, while Rabago dove under the catcher's tag on a dribbler hit by junior Hannah Edwards.
Seton Hall (5-6) pulled two runs back on a Destini Peck two-run home run off of junior Parker Boyd, but the Mountain Hawks answered with four more runs in the top of the third to go up 7-2. A leadoff walk to freshman Addie Kittel was followed with three straight hits as Stoll delivered a RBI single and freshman Carley Barjaktarovich plated two with a double down the left field line. An infield single by Alsobrooks scored Barjaktarovich to cap a four-run frame.
Peck brought the Pirates back within three at 7-4 with a two-run double in the fourth, but Chesson drove in an insurance run for the Mountain Hawks in the sixth when she singled home junior Mary-Hannah Smith.
Boyd went the first five innings in the circle for Lehigh allowing four runs on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Senior Emily Sorem threw the final two frames, walking two, striking out three and allowing no hits.
Alsobrooks, Stoll and Barjaktarovich each had two stolen bases in Friday's opener.
The Mountain Hawks were staked to an early lead in game two when Chesson delivered a two-out RBI single in the top of the first, scoring Alsobrooks. Smith doubled Lehigh's lead in the third when she drilled a one-out home run to left center.
Seton Hall tied the game in the fourth inning on a two-run home run by Baylee Allender.
The game remained knotted at 2-2 into the seventh when Smith led off with a single and went first to third on a Chesson single. A RBI ground out to second by Kittel drove home the go-ahead run and Barjaktarovich added an insurance RBI with an infield single.
Freshman Gabriella Nori recorded the first out of the bottom of the seventh but then issued a double and a walk before Barracato hit a 3-2 pitch over the fence in right center to win the game for the Pirates.
"If we want to be a really good team we need to figure out a way to finish off a game like that," Troyan said. "We had a 4-2 lead going into the last inning. Gabi got behind in the count a couple times there. They had three good swings against her all day. Other than that she pitched a great game."
Nori finished with a final line of five runs on six hits in her Lehigh debut. She walked three and struck out five.
Lehigh out-hit Seton Hall 32-11 over the two games, but the Mountain Hawks left 11 runners on base in each contest.
"There were a lot of great individual performances today, especially on the offensive end," Troyan said. "Jen Stoll had a great day. Ashley Rabago had a great day. Jaelynn Chesson had a very big day to begin. There were a lot of bright spots, but we really need to finish off these games. We left a lot of runs out there with some base running errors. Indoors it's really tough for us to work on live situations like that."
Next up for the Mountain Hawks will be five games over three days at the Courtyard by Marriott Seahawk Softball Classic, March 1-3 in Wilmington, N.C. Lehigh will face UMBC and North Carolina A&T in addition to host UNC-Wilmington over the course of the weekend.
Like Lehigh Softball on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Lehigh finished the day with 32 hits, tallying 16 in each game. Freshman Jaelynn Chesson led the charge for the Mountain Hawks, going 7-for-8 on the day with two runs scored and two RBIs. Chesson was 4-for-4 in game two. Senior Jennifer Stoll added five hits in seven at-bats. The Mountain Hawks also stole 11 bases on the day, including 10 in game one.
"Our offense, from a hitting perspective, was very good," Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan said. "We really need to clean up our base running. We missed some signs today. The good news is we got a couple of games in but we have a lot of work ahead of us as well."
Lehigh raced to a 3-0 lead in game one, scoring three runs without hitting the ball out of the infield in the second inning. With two on and two out, senior Ashley Rabago reached on an infield single, plating Stoll with the Mountain Hawks' first run of the season. An infield hit by sophomore Payton Alsobrooks brought home a second run, while Rabago dove under the catcher's tag on a dribbler hit by junior Hannah Edwards.
Seton Hall (5-6) pulled two runs back on a Destini Peck two-run home run off of junior Parker Boyd, but the Mountain Hawks answered with four more runs in the top of the third to go up 7-2. A leadoff walk to freshman Addie Kittel was followed with three straight hits as Stoll delivered a RBI single and freshman Carley Barjaktarovich plated two with a double down the left field line. An infield single by Alsobrooks scored Barjaktarovich to cap a four-run frame.
Peck brought the Pirates back within three at 7-4 with a two-run double in the fourth, but Chesson drove in an insurance run for the Mountain Hawks in the sixth when she singled home junior Mary-Hannah Smith.
Boyd went the first five innings in the circle for Lehigh allowing four runs on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Senior Emily Sorem threw the final two frames, walking two, striking out three and allowing no hits.
Alsobrooks, Stoll and Barjaktarovich each had two stolen bases in Friday's opener.
The Mountain Hawks were staked to an early lead in game two when Chesson delivered a two-out RBI single in the top of the first, scoring Alsobrooks. Smith doubled Lehigh's lead in the third when she drilled a one-out home run to left center.
Seton Hall tied the game in the fourth inning on a two-run home run by Baylee Allender.
The game remained knotted at 2-2 into the seventh when Smith led off with a single and went first to third on a Chesson single. A RBI ground out to second by Kittel drove home the go-ahead run and Barjaktarovich added an insurance RBI with an infield single.
Freshman Gabriella Nori recorded the first out of the bottom of the seventh but then issued a double and a walk before Barracato hit a 3-2 pitch over the fence in right center to win the game for the Pirates.
"If we want to be a really good team we need to figure out a way to finish off a game like that," Troyan said. "We had a 4-2 lead going into the last inning. Gabi got behind in the count a couple times there. They had three good swings against her all day. Other than that she pitched a great game."
Nori finished with a final line of five runs on six hits in her Lehigh debut. She walked three and struck out five.
Lehigh out-hit Seton Hall 32-11 over the two games, but the Mountain Hawks left 11 runners on base in each contest.
"There were a lot of great individual performances today, especially on the offensive end," Troyan said. "Jen Stoll had a great day. Ashley Rabago had a great day. Jaelynn Chesson had a very big day to begin. There were a lot of bright spots, but we really need to finish off these games. We left a lot of runs out there with some base running errors. Indoors it's really tough for us to work on live situations like that."
Next up for the Mountain Hawks will be five games over three days at the Courtyard by Marriott Seahawk Softball Classic, March 1-3 in Wilmington, N.C. Lehigh will face UMBC and North Carolina A&T in addition to host UNC-Wilmington over the course of the weekend.
Like Lehigh Softball on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Boyd, Parker (1-0)
L: CAMP (3-2)
Batting:
2B: Smith, Mary-Hannah 1 ; Barjaktarovich, Carley 1
RBI: Alsobrooks, Payton 2 ; Edwards, Hannah 1 ; Chesson, Jaelynn 1 ; Stoll, Jennifer 1 ; Barjaktarovich, Carley 1 ; Rabago, Ashley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Smith, Mary-Hannah 1 ; O'Rourke, Karsen 1 ; Chesson, Jaelynn 1 ; Stoll, Jennifer 2 ; Barjaktarovich, Carley 2 ; Rabago, Ashley 1
SB: Alsobrooks, Payton 2 ; Edwards, Hannah 1 ; van Ooyen, Lexi 1 ; Stoll, Jennifer 2 ; Barjaktarovich, Carley 2 ; Preble, Emily 1 ; Rabago, Ashley 1
CS: Rabago, Ashley 1
HBP: Preble, Emily 1
Batting:
2B: BARRACATO 1 ; ALLENDER 1 ; PECK 1
HR: PECK 1
RBI: PECK 4
Base Running:
RUNS: PLA 1 ; ALLENDER 2 ; PECK 1
SB: PLA 1
Game Leaders
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RBI
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RBI
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5
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RBI
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Players Mentioned
C/OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
P
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/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
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/ SoftballIF
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