Friday, May 10
Boston, Mass.
10:00 AM
Lehigh University
26-27
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Boston U.
36-18
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Boston University
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Lehigh
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Lehigh rallies to beat Bucknell, earn rematch with Boston U. for Patriot League Championship
5/10/2019 4:55:00 PM | Softball
BOSTON – For the third consecutive year it will be Lehigh and Boston University in the championship round of the Patriot League Tournament and for the third straight year, the Mountain Hawks will need to defeat the Terriers twice to claim the Patriot League title.
Lehigh dropped its winner's bracket game to Boston University 2-1 Friday morning at BU Softball Field, but came back to eliminate Bucknell 3-2 to advance to Saturday's championship round.
Freshman Gabriella Nori was outstanding in the pitcher's circle, allowing just one earned run over 12 innings in the two-games. She threw 6.1 innings of scoreless, three-hit relief to beat the Bison for the second straight day.
With Friday's split, Lehigh is now 27-27 on the season.
"We knew (the Bucknell game) would be a hard one," Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan said. "We put our heart and soul into the first game. It was a game that could have went either way. Whoever loses that winner's bracket game, that's a heartbreaking loss, and it was for us."
Bucknelll (28-24) got to junior Parker Boyd early in Friday's elimination game. A leadoff error and a sacrifice were followed by a run-scoring triple by Anna Gimmestad and a RBI double by Lauren Hadley. With runners on the corners and two outs, Nori came on and got the Mountain Hawks out of the inning without any further damage.
Junior Mary-Hannah Smith stayed hot against the Bison with a one-out single in the bottom of the first. A walk to freshman Jaelynn Chesson put two runners on, and two batters later freshman Addie Kittel drilled a double to right field, plating Smith and Chesson to tie the game at 2-2.
Smith and Chesson were in the middle of things again as Lehigh took the lead in the third. Smith reached on a single to shortstop with one out and Chesson followed with a double to right center, with Smith coming all the way around to score the go-ahead run.
"I was really pleased with how we came back," Troyan said. "Even though we were down 2-0, Addie Kittel had a big hit to knock in a couple of runs and even it up. Then Jaelynn, another freshman, had a big hit to knock it in. And another freshman, Gabi Nori, pitching lights out the rest of the way, so, the future is bright, but the future is going to start tomorrow. I'm not sure if we're going to win the thing or not, but we're going to fight. We're going to compete, and we're going to play hard."
Bison ace Raeanne Geffert came on in relief of Lauren Lichtenwalner in the fourth and tossed three scoreless innings of relief, allowing just one base runner via a walk.
Meanwhile, Nori worked around a leadoff walk in the fourth and a Taylor Wolfgang one-out double in the sixth to keep Lehigh ahead. Nori retired the first two batters in the seventh before Allyse Volpe reached on an infield single and took second on a Nori throwing error, but the freshman struck out Ryanne Rokos to end the game. Nori picked up her 10th victory of the season, allowing three hits and a walk, while striking out seven.
"She's a gamer," Troyan said of Nori. "She has a stone exterior. She doesn't express a lot, but she's a competitor and she showed that today."
Earlier Friday, a fluky play led to an unearned run, which proved to be the difference against the defending league champion Terriers.
Nori and Ali DuBois were locked in a pitcher's duel through three innings. Alex Heinen opened the scoring with a one-out solo home run to left center in the fourth, but Lehigh rallied in the bottom of the frame.
Smith singled to second base for Lehigh's first hit. Chesson walked, and two batters later a single by Kittel loaded the bases for the Mountain Hawks with one out. Sophomore Payton Alsobrooks pulled Lehigh even with a sacrifice fly to right that scored Smith, but DuBois struck out freshman Carley Barjaktarovich to keep the game tied at one.
In the sixth a leadoff walk would prove costly for the Mountain Hawks. Nori walked Emily Morrow to open the frame. Heinen then doubled to deep left center, with Morrow advancing to third. A miscommunication among the Terriers had Heinen caught between second and third base. Barjaktarovich tagged her out, but while in pursuit of Morrow off of third, she lost her footing and the ball, allowing Morrow to come home with the go-ahead run.
Chesson singled with one out in the bottom of the sixth, but DuBois retired the final five Mountain Hawks to send Boston University into the championship round.
Nori allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits over 5.2 innings with a walk and three strikeouts. Boyd retired all four batters she faced in relief.
Gallery: (5/10/2019) Softball vs. BU and Bucknell PLT 5-10-19
The final round of the Patriot League Tournament begins Saturday at 11 a.m. at BU Softball Field. Boston University needs one win to claim its second straight championship, while Lehigh needs two to win its second in three years. The seventh and decisive game of the tournament, if necessary, will follow game six at approximately 1:30 p.m. All Patriot League Tournament action will be broadcast on the Patriot League Network.
"Every game with BU has come down to the last inning or so," Troyan said. "We're hoping that maybe the softball gods will be smiling on us tomorrow. We just need to play free. If we make the moment bigger than it is, then we might crumble under pressure, but we're not going to do that."
Like Lehigh Softball on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Lehigh dropped its winner's bracket game to Boston University 2-1 Friday morning at BU Softball Field, but came back to eliminate Bucknell 3-2 to advance to Saturday's championship round.
Freshman Gabriella Nori was outstanding in the pitcher's circle, allowing just one earned run over 12 innings in the two-games. She threw 6.1 innings of scoreless, three-hit relief to beat the Bison for the second straight day.
With Friday's split, Lehigh is now 27-27 on the season.
"We knew (the Bucknell game) would be a hard one," Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan said. "We put our heart and soul into the first game. It was a game that could have went either way. Whoever loses that winner's bracket game, that's a heartbreaking loss, and it was for us."
Bucknelll (28-24) got to junior Parker Boyd early in Friday's elimination game. A leadoff error and a sacrifice were followed by a run-scoring triple by Anna Gimmestad and a RBI double by Lauren Hadley. With runners on the corners and two outs, Nori came on and got the Mountain Hawks out of the inning without any further damage.
Junior Mary-Hannah Smith stayed hot against the Bison with a one-out single in the bottom of the first. A walk to freshman Jaelynn Chesson put two runners on, and two batters later freshman Addie Kittel drilled a double to right field, plating Smith and Chesson to tie the game at 2-2.
Smith and Chesson were in the middle of things again as Lehigh took the lead in the third. Smith reached on a single to shortstop with one out and Chesson followed with a double to right center, with Smith coming all the way around to score the go-ahead run.
Chesson! The freshman doubles to right center, bringing Smith home with the go-ahead run. 17th double of the year for Chesson. Lehigh 3, Bucknell 2
— Lehigh Softball (@Lehighsoftball) May 10, 2019
Watch @PatriotLeagueTV: https://t.co/Q4ipPHt63X pic.twitter.com/W9UtxcnQBB
"I was really pleased with how we came back," Troyan said. "Even though we were down 2-0, Addie Kittel had a big hit to knock in a couple of runs and even it up. Then Jaelynn, another freshman, had a big hit to knock it in. And another freshman, Gabi Nori, pitching lights out the rest of the way, so, the future is bright, but the future is going to start tomorrow. I'm not sure if we're going to win the thing or not, but we're going to fight. We're going to compete, and we're going to play hard."
Bison ace Raeanne Geffert came on in relief of Lauren Lichtenwalner in the fourth and tossed three scoreless innings of relief, allowing just one base runner via a walk.
Meanwhile, Nori worked around a leadoff walk in the fourth and a Taylor Wolfgang one-out double in the sixth to keep Lehigh ahead. Nori retired the first two batters in the seventh before Allyse Volpe reached on an infield single and took second on a Nori throwing error, but the freshman struck out Ryanne Rokos to end the game. Nori picked up her 10th victory of the season, allowing three hits and a walk, while striking out seven.
Got her! With the tying run on second, Nori strikes out Rokos to end it! Her seventh strikeout of the game. Lehigh wins 3-2 and will face Boston U. in the championship round tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/AIl4fu34xh
— Lehigh Softball (@Lehighsoftball) May 10, 2019
"She's a gamer," Troyan said of Nori. "She has a stone exterior. She doesn't express a lot, but she's a competitor and she showed that today."
Earlier Friday, a fluky play led to an unearned run, which proved to be the difference against the defending league champion Terriers.
Nori and Ali DuBois were locked in a pitcher's duel through three innings. Alex Heinen opened the scoring with a one-out solo home run to left center in the fourth, but Lehigh rallied in the bottom of the frame.
Smith singled to second base for Lehigh's first hit. Chesson walked, and two batters later a single by Kittel loaded the bases for the Mountain Hawks with one out. Sophomore Payton Alsobrooks pulled Lehigh even with a sacrifice fly to right that scored Smith, but DuBois struck out freshman Carley Barjaktarovich to keep the game tied at one.
In the sixth a leadoff walk would prove costly for the Mountain Hawks. Nori walked Emily Morrow to open the frame. Heinen then doubled to deep left center, with Morrow advancing to third. A miscommunication among the Terriers had Heinen caught between second and third base. Barjaktarovich tagged her out, but while in pursuit of Morrow off of third, she lost her footing and the ball, allowing Morrow to come home with the go-ahead run.
Chesson singled with one out in the bottom of the sixth, but DuBois retired the final five Mountain Hawks to send Boston University into the championship round.
Nori allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits over 5.2 innings with a walk and three strikeouts. Boyd retired all four batters she faced in relief.
The final round of the Patriot League Tournament begins Saturday at 11 a.m. at BU Softball Field. Boston University needs one win to claim its second straight championship, while Lehigh needs two to win its second in three years. The seventh and decisive game of the tournament, if necessary, will follow game six at approximately 1:30 p.m. All Patriot League Tournament action will be broadcast on the Patriot League Network.
"Every game with BU has come down to the last inning or so," Troyan said. "We're hoping that maybe the softball gods will be smiling on us tomorrow. We just need to play free. If we make the moment bigger than it is, then we might crumble under pressure, but we're not going to do that."
Like Lehigh Softball on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: DuBois, Ali (23-9)
L: Nori, Gabriella (9-13)
Batting:
2B: Heinen, Alex 1
HR: Heinen, Alex 1
RBI: Heinen, Alex 1
SH: Ponce, Alexa 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Morrow, Emily 1 ; Heinen, Alex 1
Batting:
RBI: Alsobrooks, Payton 1
SF: Alsobrooks, Payton 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Smith, Mary-Hannah 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballP/UT
/ SoftballUT
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballIF
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