Sunday, April 28
Worcester, Mass.
12:00 PM
Lehigh University
22-25, 0
8
at
7
Holy Cross
10-34, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Lehigh
2
0
4
0
2
0
0
8
11
0
Holy Cross
5
1
1
0
0
0
0
7
12
0
Mountain Hawks complete sweep of Holy Cross with another thrilling victory
4/28/2019 5:44:00 PM | Softball
WORCESTER, Mass. – The Lehigh softball team trailed 6-2 after two innings, but scored six of the game's final seven runs to pick up a dramatic 8-7 win over Holy Cross on Sunday morning. The game was moved to 9 a.m. from its originally-scheduled noon due to inclement weather in the forecast. The Mountain Hawks wrapped up a three-game sweep that saw them plate the go-ahead run in the seventh and ninth innings on Saturday before plating what proved to be the winning run in the fifth inning Sunday.
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On Sunday, it was sophomore Payton Alsobrooks singling to left field to score junior Emily Preble, putting the Mountain Hawks up for good.
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"The kids fought really hard," said Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan. "It was really, really cool to see how hard they fought. They got down by three runs when Holy Cross scored five in the first then down by four, but nobody panicked and they did a great job. Multiple people came up with big hits in clutch situations. Karen O'Rourke, Emily Preble and Payton Alsobrooks all had big hits. Lexi van Ooyen had a clutch throw to get a runner. Emily Sorem didn't give up any runs on the weekend, which was a tremendous performance on her part."
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With Sunday's win, the Mountain Hawks improve to 8-7 in league play, tied with Colgate for third place and ahead of Army West Point in fifth at 8-10. With one win at Colgate next weekend, Lehigh would clinch a Patriot League Tournament berth. With two wins, the Mountain Hawks would be the No. 3 seed in the tournament.
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Lehigh quickly took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning as freshman Jaelynn Chesson doubled home senior Ashley Rabago, who led off the game with a walk and stolen base. Junior Lexi van Ooyen followed Chesson with an RBI double of her own.
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Holy Cross scored five runs in the bottom of the first and one more in the second to take a 6-2 lead, but the Mountain Hawks had an answer in the third inning. Lehigh scored four times on five hits as another Chesson double plated Rabago. A van Ooyen single scored junior Mary-Hannah Smith to pull the Mountain Hawks within 6-4. Later in the frame, a bases-loaded walk from Preble, followed by an RBI single from freshman Karsen O'Rourke, evened the score at 6-6.
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The Crusaders retook a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the frame, but the Mountain Hawks jumped in front for good in the fifth. An RBI triple from Preble knotted the scored at seven then two batters later, Alsobrooks singled to left, scoring Preble for an 8-7 Mountain Hawks' advantage.
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From there, senior Emily Sorem stood tall. Less than 24 hours after becoming the first pitcher in program history to throw a nine-inning no-hitter, Sorem entered in relief and allowed no runs and just two hits over 3.1 innings. Prior to Sorem, freshman Gabriella Nori limited the damage, allowing just one run in two innings with three strikeouts.
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At the plate, Chesson finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Her three doubles tied a program record. Freshman Carlyn Barjaktarovich and van Ooyen were both 2-for-4, with van Ooyen driving in two. Peble drove in a pair as well.
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"All the games this weekend had a Patriot League Tournament feel to them," said Troyan. "When you play in games with that feel, it will help get you ready for the tournament. We'll just take it one game at a time. We can't control what everybody else is going, but we can control what we're doing."
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Before the Mountain Hawks wrap up the regular season at Colgate next weekend, Lehigh will travel to Villanova on Wednesday to face the Wildcats. Gametime is set for 3 p.m. The Mountain Hawks will then play a doubleheader at Colgate Saturday and single game Sunday, needing one win to clinch a Patriot League Tournament berth.
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Like Lehigh Softball on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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On Sunday, it was sophomore Payton Alsobrooks singling to left field to score junior Emily Preble, putting the Mountain Hawks up for good.
Â
"The kids fought really hard," said Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan. "It was really, really cool to see how hard they fought. They got down by three runs when Holy Cross scored five in the first then down by four, but nobody panicked and they did a great job. Multiple people came up with big hits in clutch situations. Karen O'Rourke, Emily Preble and Payton Alsobrooks all had big hits. Lexi van Ooyen had a clutch throw to get a runner. Emily Sorem didn't give up any runs on the weekend, which was a tremendous performance on her part."
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With Sunday's win, the Mountain Hawks improve to 8-7 in league play, tied with Colgate for third place and ahead of Army West Point in fifth at 8-10. With one win at Colgate next weekend, Lehigh would clinch a Patriot League Tournament berth. With two wins, the Mountain Hawks would be the No. 3 seed in the tournament.
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Lehigh quickly took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning as freshman Jaelynn Chesson doubled home senior Ashley Rabago, who led off the game with a walk and stolen base. Junior Lexi van Ooyen followed Chesson with an RBI double of her own.
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Holy Cross scored five runs in the bottom of the first and one more in the second to take a 6-2 lead, but the Mountain Hawks had an answer in the third inning. Lehigh scored four times on five hits as another Chesson double plated Rabago. A van Ooyen single scored junior Mary-Hannah Smith to pull the Mountain Hawks within 6-4. Later in the frame, a bases-loaded walk from Preble, followed by an RBI single from freshman Karsen O'Rourke, evened the score at 6-6.
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The Crusaders retook a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the frame, but the Mountain Hawks jumped in front for good in the fifth. An RBI triple from Preble knotted the scored at seven then two batters later, Alsobrooks singled to left, scoring Preble for an 8-7 Mountain Hawks' advantage.
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From there, senior Emily Sorem stood tall. Less than 24 hours after becoming the first pitcher in program history to throw a nine-inning no-hitter, Sorem entered in relief and allowed no runs and just two hits over 3.1 innings. Prior to Sorem, freshman Gabriella Nori limited the damage, allowing just one run in two innings with three strikeouts.
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At the plate, Chesson finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Her three doubles tied a program record. Freshman Carlyn Barjaktarovich and van Ooyen were both 2-for-4, with van Ooyen driving in two. Peble drove in a pair as well.
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"All the games this weekend had a Patriot League Tournament feel to them," said Troyan. "When you play in games with that feel, it will help get you ready for the tournament. We'll just take it one game at a time. We can't control what everybody else is going, but we can control what we're doing."
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Before the Mountain Hawks wrap up the regular season at Colgate next weekend, Lehigh will travel to Villanova on Wednesday to face the Wildcats. Gametime is set for 3 p.m. The Mountain Hawks will then play a doubleheader at Colgate Saturday and single game Sunday, needing one win to clinch a Patriot League Tournament berth.
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Like Lehigh Softball on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sorem, Emily (4-2)
L: Alexandra Held (4-14)
Batting:
2B: Chesson, Jaelynn 3 ; van Ooyen, Lexi 1
3B: Preble, Emily 1
RBI: Chesson, Jaelynn 2 ; van Ooyen, Lexi 2 ; Preble, Emily 2 ; O'Rourke, Karsen 1 ; Alsobrooks, Payton 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rabago, Ashley 2 ; Smith, Mary-Hannah 1 ; Chesson, Jaelynn 1 ; van Ooyen, Lexi 1 ; Stoll, Jennifer 1 ; Barjaktarovich, Carley 1 ; Preble, Emily 1
SB: Rabago, Ashley 1
Batting:
2B: Erin Bengston 1
HR: Jessie Nagel 1
RBI: Jackie Brewster 1 ; Jessie Nagel 1 ; Taylor Wahler 1 ; Erin Bengston 2 ; Sydney Behrens 2
SH: Bailey Chavez 1 ; Sydney Burr 2 ; Alexandra Held 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Jackie Brewster 1 ; Jessie Nagel 2 ; Taylor Wahler 1 ; Erin Bengston 1 ; Hannah Horton 1 ; Molly Neil 1
HBP: Hannah Horton 2 ; Sydney Behrens 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/OF
/ SoftballP/UT
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballIF/UT
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