Sunday, March 31
Bethlehem, Pa.
12:00 PM
Lehigh University
10-18, 3-3
3
vs
8
Bucknell
16-15, 6-0
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3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Bucknell
3
0
0
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0
8
12
3
Lehigh
0
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0
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0
0
0
3
6
0
Mountain Hawks fall 8-3 to Bucknell in series finale
3/31/2019 4:45:00 PM | Softball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Visiting Bucknell used a five-run sixth inning to break a 3-3 tie as the Bison completed a three-game sweep of Lehigh with an 8-3 victory Sunday at Leadership Park. The Mountain Hawks battled back from an early 3-0 deficit to tie the game at 3-3, but ran into one jam too many.
The three losses against Bucknell mark the first time ever that Lehigh has been swept in a Patriot League series of three or more games. The Mountain Hawks are now 10-18 overall and 3-3 after two weekends of league play, while Bucknell tops the league standings at 6-0 and is now 16-15 overall.
Freshmen Jaelynn Chesson and Addie Kittel recorded four of Lehigh's six hits against Bucknell's Raeanne Geffert, one day after Geffert no-hit the Mountain Hawks in the series opener.
"We played with fire the whole time," Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan said. "When you play with fire, you get burned."
The Bison took a 3-0 lead after a half-inning of play on a Marisa Alemany one-out double, a two-run home run by Lauren Hadley and then a solo home run by Taylor Wolfgang.
Lehigh finally got to Geffert in the bottom of the second as Chesson led off with a home run to left, her fourth of the season, and Kittel followed with a double to left center. Pinch runner Lainey Stephenson scored when freshman Karsen O'Rourke reached on an error, while junior Lexi van Ooyen scored the tying run on an error on a ball hit by freshman Carley Barjaktarovich.
Junior Parker Boyd set the Bison down in order in the second and used a double play to retire Bucknell in order in the third. In the fourth, Bucknell put the first two runners on, but Boyd got two outs on a lineout and a strikeout, and after hitting Julienne Egofske to load the bases, struck out Nicole Rivait to end the threat.
Boyd got into trouble again in the fifth and with the bases loaded and one out, recorded a strikeout and a groundout to escape unscathed.
Lehigh attempted a two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth as Kittel singled with two outs, but she was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first on a double down the left field line by van Ooyen.
In the sixth, Bucknell strung together three consecutive one-out singles, with Alysse Volpe singling home the go-ahead run. A double-steal led to a second Bison run in the inning and Anna Gimmestad delivered the big blow with a two-out, three-run home run to left, to put Bucknell up 8-3.
Lehigh attempted to rally with two outs in the home seventh after a double by junior Mary-Hannah Smith and a single by Chesson, but Geffert got Kittel to ground into a force play to end the game.
Boyd took the loss, allowing eight runs on 12 hits in 5.2 innings. She walked three and struck out four before giving way to freshman Gabriella Nori, who retired all four batters she faced.
The top four in Bucknell's order: Volpe, Alemany, Hadley and Gimmestad each had two hits on the afternoon.
"It's back to the drawing board for us," Troyan said. "It's a new five-week season. We have an off day tomorrow and we're going to try to right the ship. Bucknell is a very good team. Hopefully we'll have an opportunity at some point in time to play them again, but we just have to get better. We're not where we need to be pitching-wise. We're not where we need to be hitting-wise, or defensively. We just have a lot of work ahead of us."
The Mountain Hawks will host Saint Joseph's in a non-league doubleheader Wednesday with game time for game one set for 3 p.m. from Leadership Park. Lehigh will close out a 10-game home stand with three games against defending Patriot League champion Boston University April 6-7.
Gallery: (3/31/2019) Softball vs. Bucknell, 3/31/19
Like Lehigh Softball on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
The three losses against Bucknell mark the first time ever that Lehigh has been swept in a Patriot League series of three or more games. The Mountain Hawks are now 10-18 overall and 3-3 after two weekends of league play, while Bucknell tops the league standings at 6-0 and is now 16-15 overall.
Freshmen Jaelynn Chesson and Addie Kittel recorded four of Lehigh's six hits against Bucknell's Raeanne Geffert, one day after Geffert no-hit the Mountain Hawks in the series opener.
"We played with fire the whole time," Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan said. "When you play with fire, you get burned."
The Bison took a 3-0 lead after a half-inning of play on a Marisa Alemany one-out double, a two-run home run by Lauren Hadley and then a solo home run by Taylor Wolfgang.
Lehigh finally got to Geffert in the bottom of the second as Chesson led off with a home run to left, her fourth of the season, and Kittel followed with a double to left center. Pinch runner Lainey Stephenson scored when freshman Karsen O'Rourke reached on an error, while junior Lexi van Ooyen scored the tying run on an error on a ball hit by freshman Carley Barjaktarovich.
Junior Parker Boyd set the Bison down in order in the second and used a double play to retire Bucknell in order in the third. In the fourth, Bucknell put the first two runners on, but Boyd got two outs on a lineout and a strikeout, and after hitting Julienne Egofske to load the bases, struck out Nicole Rivait to end the threat.
Boyd got into trouble again in the fifth and with the bases loaded and one out, recorded a strikeout and a groundout to escape unscathed.
Lehigh attempted a two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth as Kittel singled with two outs, but she was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first on a double down the left field line by van Ooyen.
In the sixth, Bucknell strung together three consecutive one-out singles, with Alysse Volpe singling home the go-ahead run. A double-steal led to a second Bison run in the inning and Anna Gimmestad delivered the big blow with a two-out, three-run home run to left, to put Bucknell up 8-3.
Lehigh attempted to rally with two outs in the home seventh after a double by junior Mary-Hannah Smith and a single by Chesson, but Geffert got Kittel to ground into a force play to end the game.
Boyd took the loss, allowing eight runs on 12 hits in 5.2 innings. She walked three and struck out four before giving way to freshman Gabriella Nori, who retired all four batters she faced.
The top four in Bucknell's order: Volpe, Alemany, Hadley and Gimmestad each had two hits on the afternoon.
"It's back to the drawing board for us," Troyan said. "It's a new five-week season. We have an off day tomorrow and we're going to try to right the ship. Bucknell is a very good team. Hopefully we'll have an opportunity at some point in time to play them again, but we just have to get better. We're not where we need to be pitching-wise. We're not where we need to be hitting-wise, or defensively. We just have a lot of work ahead of us."
The Mountain Hawks will host Saint Joseph's in a non-league doubleheader Wednesday with game time for game one set for 3 p.m. from Leadership Park. Lehigh will close out a 10-game home stand with three games against defending Patriot League champion Boston University April 6-7.
Like Lehigh Softball on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Geffert, Raeanne (9-8)
L: Boyd, Parker (5-7)
Batting:
2B: Alemany, Marisa 1 ; Gimmestad, Anna 1
HR: Hadley, Lauren 1 ; Gimmestad, Anna 1 ; Wolfgang, Taylor 1
RBI: Volpe, Allyse 1 ; Hadley, Lauren 2 ; Gimmestad, Anna 3 ; Wolfgang, Taylor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Volpe, Allyse 1 ; Alemany, Marisa 1 ; DeRiso, Bella 1 ; Hadley, Lauren 2 ; Gimmestad, Anna 1 ; Wolfgang, Taylor 1 ; Baglivo, Tara 1
SB: Volpe, Allyse 2 ; DeRiso, Bella 1
CS: Hom, Jess 1
HBP: Egofske, Julienne 1
Batting:
2B: Smith, Mary-Hannah 1 ; Kittel, Addie 1 ; van Ooyen, Lexi 1
HR: Chesson, Jaelynn 1
RBI: Chesson, Jaelynn 1 ; O'Rourke, Karsen 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Chesson, Jaelynn 1 ; Stephenson, Lainey 1 ; van Ooyen, Lexi 1
Game Leaders
lf/rf
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
rf/lf
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballP/UT
/ SoftballUT
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
P/UT
/ SoftballIF/UT
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