Wednesday, March 11
Phoenix, Ariz.
5:30 PM
Lehigh University
8-8
3
vs
0
South Dakota
11-17
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Lehigh
1
0
0
0
2
0
0
3
8
0
South Dakota
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
8
0
Shutout win over South Dakota highlights opening day of GCU Invitational
3/12/2020 1:09:00 AM | Softball
PHOENIX – Lehigh moved on from Tempe to Phoenix to close out its spring break trip at the GCU Invitational. The Mountain Hawks split two games Wednesday on the opening day of the tournament, blanking South Dakota 3-0 before falling 16-7 against host Grand Canyon in six innings at GCU Softball Stadium.
Senior Parker Boyd went the distance on an eight-hit shutout against the Coyotes, but the Mountain Hawks couldn't replicate the pitching performance against the Lopes.
Freshman Emily Cimino paced the offense, going 3-for-7 over the two games with four RBIs.
Lehigh is now 8-9 on the season following Wednesday's split.
The Mountain Hawks jumped on South Dakota (11-18) early. Sophomore Carley Barjaktarovich led off the game with a bunt single and stole second. Cimino brought her home with a two out single up the middle.
Lehigh added to its lead in the fifth when senior Emily Preble and Barjaktarovich started the inning with consecutive singles. A ground out moved the runners into scoring position and a sacrifice squeeze bunt by senior Mary-Hannah Smith brought Preble home to double Lehigh's lead. Cimino followed with a single to left, scoring Barjaktarovich to put the Mountain Hawks up 3-0.
Boyd took care of the rest on the way to her second shutout of the season. She allowed base runners in all but one inning, but improved to 6-5 on the season after scattering eight hits and striking out five, while walking just one.
Lehigh finished with eight hits, with Barjaktarovich, Cimino and junior Payton Alsobrooks each delivering two.
A trio of Lehigh pitchers allowed just eight hits to Grand Canyon (7-20), but the trio of sophomore Jaelynn Chesson, junior Lainey Stephenson and Cimino combined to walk 12 Lopes and hit three more.
Grand Canyon scored nine runs in the top of the first on just four hits, but the Mountain Hawks eventually battled back to 10-7 after three innings.
Chesson and Alsobrooks delivered RBIs in the bottom of the first and Lehigh scored four more in the second on a Smith fielder's choice, Chesson single and Cimino two-run double. Sophomore Karsen O'Rourke led off the third with a double and scored on a single by junior Allyson Dibsie to bring Lehigh within three runs after three innings.
Stephenson came on in the second inning and gave up an unearned run, but then kept GCU off the board in the third and fourth frames. Lilly Bishop hit a three-run home run with two outs in the fifth to extend the Lopes' lead to 13-7 and Grand Canyon added three more in the sixth on two hit batters and a walk with the bases loaded.
Chesson and Dibsie each had two of Lehigh's eight hits against GCU, which run-ruled South Dakota in Wednesday's middle game.
The Mountain Hawks will be off on Thursday and will resume action at the GCU Invitational on Friday when they face South Dakota again at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. MST and Ohio State at 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. MST.
Like Lehigh Softball on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Senior Parker Boyd went the distance on an eight-hit shutout against the Coyotes, but the Mountain Hawks couldn't replicate the pitching performance against the Lopes.
Freshman Emily Cimino paced the offense, going 3-for-7 over the two games with four RBIs.
Lehigh is now 8-9 on the season following Wednesday's split.
The Mountain Hawks jumped on South Dakota (11-18) early. Sophomore Carley Barjaktarovich led off the game with a bunt single and stole second. Cimino brought her home with a two out single up the middle.
Lehigh added to its lead in the fifth when senior Emily Preble and Barjaktarovich started the inning with consecutive singles. A ground out moved the runners into scoring position and a sacrifice squeeze bunt by senior Mary-Hannah Smith brought Preble home to double Lehigh's lead. Cimino followed with a single to left, scoring Barjaktarovich to put the Mountain Hawks up 3-0.
Boyd took care of the rest on the way to her second shutout of the season. She allowed base runners in all but one inning, but improved to 6-5 on the season after scattering eight hits and striking out five, while walking just one.
Lehigh finished with eight hits, with Barjaktarovich, Cimino and junior Payton Alsobrooks each delivering two.
A trio of Lehigh pitchers allowed just eight hits to Grand Canyon (7-20), but the trio of sophomore Jaelynn Chesson, junior Lainey Stephenson and Cimino combined to walk 12 Lopes and hit three more.
Grand Canyon scored nine runs in the top of the first on just four hits, but the Mountain Hawks eventually battled back to 10-7 after three innings.
Chesson and Alsobrooks delivered RBIs in the bottom of the first and Lehigh scored four more in the second on a Smith fielder's choice, Chesson single and Cimino two-run double. Sophomore Karsen O'Rourke led off the third with a double and scored on a single by junior Allyson Dibsie to bring Lehigh within three runs after three innings.
Stephenson came on in the second inning and gave up an unearned run, but then kept GCU off the board in the third and fourth frames. Lilly Bishop hit a three-run home run with two outs in the fifth to extend the Lopes' lead to 13-7 and Grand Canyon added three more in the sixth on two hit batters and a walk with the bases loaded.
Chesson and Dibsie each had two of Lehigh's eight hits against GCU, which run-ruled South Dakota in Wednesday's middle game.
The Mountain Hawks will be off on Thursday and will resume action at the GCU Invitational on Friday when they face South Dakota again at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. MST and Ohio State at 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. MST.
Like Lehigh Softball on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Boyd, Parker (6-5)
L: Lisko (7-4)
Batting:
2B: Smith, Mary-Hannah 1
RBI: Smith, Mary-Hannah 1 ; Cimino, Emily 2
SH: Smith, Mary-Hannah 1 ; van Ooyen, Lexi 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Barjaktarovich, Carley 2 ; Preble, Emily 1
SB: Barjaktarovich, Carley 1 ; Cimino, Emily 1
Batting:
SH: Black 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
C/IF
/ SoftballIF
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P
/ Softball
P/UT
/ SoftballIF/UT
/ Softball
C/UT
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
C
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
P/UT
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