Lehigh University
6-6
New Mexico State
10-11
Mountain Hawks done in by the long ball after late rally against New Mexico State
3/10/2019 5:01:00 PM | Softball
Freshman Carley Barjaktarovich and junior Mary-Hannah Smith both went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in and sophomore Allyson Dibsie hit a solo home run for her first hit of the season, but the Aggies tagged Lehigh pitching for four home runs, including the go-ahead three-run shot by Kelsey Horton in the seventh inning.
Lehigh went 1-4 against top-level competition at the ASU Invitational and now sits at 6-6 on the season.
Freshman Gabriella Nori started in the circle for Lehigh and struck out the first two batters of the game, but after a two-out single, Horton hit her first home run of the game, a two-run shot, to put the Aggies up 2-0.
Dibsie put Lehigh on the board with a solo home run to left, her first hit in eight at-bats this season.
New Mexico State (10-11) tacked on three more in the middle innings on a solo home run by Kayla Bowen in the fourth and a two-run double by Victoria Castro in the fifth.
Lehigh pulled a run back with a run in the bottom of the fifth as Smith singled home junior Lexi van Ooyen and then tied the game behind a three-run sixth. The Mountain Hawks loaded the bases with two outs and Barjaktarovich singled through the left side to bring home two runs. Smith followed with a single to left, bringing senior Ashley Rabago home with the tying run.
The first two Aggies reached in the bottom of the seventh, setting up Horton for her second home run of the game. Bowen's second homer of the game made it back-to-back home runs for New Mexico State and Lehigh could not mount another comeback in the bottom of the frame.
Nori pitched the first four innings then re-entered in the top of the seventh. She was charged with seven runs on nine hits over five innings. She struck out five and walked one. Junior Parker Boyd allowed two runs over two innings with three walks and three strikeouts.
Both teams had 11 hits on the day with van Ooyen and junior Hannah Edwards joining Barjaktarovich and Smith in having two-hit games.
Lehigh will be off Monday and will return to Tempe to face Arizona State in a single game Tuesday, with game time set for 9:30 p.m. ET /6:30 p.m. MT.
Like Lehigh Softball on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Green, Kayla (5-2)
L: Nori, Gabriella (2-3)
Batting:
2B: Castro, Victoria 2 ; Felder, Mya 1 ; Medina, Jeanelle 1
HR: Horton, Kelsey 2 ; Bowen, Kayla 2
RBI: Castro, Victoria 2 ; Horton, Kelsey 5 ; Bowen, Kayla 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Brown, Keala 1 ; Castro, Victoria 1 ; Butler, Nikki 1 ; Gonzales, Rylan 1 ; Horton, Kelsey 2 ; Bowen, Kayla 2 ; Hernandez, Brandy 1
SB: Brown, Keala 1 ; Hernandez, Brandy 1
CS: Felder, Mya 1
HBP: Butler, Nikki 1
Batting:
HR: Dibsie, Allyson 1
RBI: Barjaktarovich, Carley 2 ; Smith, Mary-Hannah 2 ; Dibsie, Allyson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rabago, Ashley 1 ; Dibsie, Allyson 1 ; O'Rourke, Karsen 1 ; van Ooyen, Lexi 2
CS: Rabago, Ashley 1
HBP: Dibsie, Allyson 1
