Thursday, May 11
Boston, Mass.
2:30 PM
Lehigh University
40-12
5
vs
1
Army West Point
20-36
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Army
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
4
2
Lehigh
0
1
0
0
2
2
X
5
11
0
Photo by: Carolyn Mooney
Lehigh Tops Army 5-1 in PLT Opener As Barjaktarovich Breaks Career Hits Record
5/11/2023 6:09:00 PM | Softball
BOSTON – The Lehigh softball team opened defense of its Patriot League Tournament title with a 5-1 victory over Army West Point Thursday at BU Softball Field.
Four of the top five hitters in Lehigh's batting order recorded two hits, including graduate student Carley Barjaktarovich, who went 2-for-4 with a run scored, extending her school-record hitting streak to 35 games and becoming Lehigh softball's career hits leader with 264. Barjaktarovich broke the record of 263 set by Julie Fernandez '12 with a bunt single leading off the bottom of the sixth inning.
First-year Chloe Hess delivered a strong performance in the pitcher's circle to lead Lehigh, as the Mountain Hawks improve to 40-12 overall and reach the 40-win mark for the sixth time in program history. Lehigh will face top seed and host Boston University in a winner's bracket game Friday at 11 a.m.
"We ran ourselves out of some innings early on but I did love the aggressive nature of what we were doing," Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan said. "The aggressiveness carried over into the batter's box. From an offensive standpoint we played a fantastic game. Defensively we were great and Chloe had 97 pitches, which is fantastic for her and overall, fantastic for us."
Junior Brooke Cannon led off the home second with a single and scored the first run of the game when sophomore Rory Dudley hit a ball deep into the gap in left center that was jarred loose after a collision by the Army left fielder and center fielder.
Army (20-36) tied the game on Kaci Donaldson's RBI double in the fourth, but Hess was able to get out of the inning with a flyout and strikeout, stranding runners and second and third.
Senior Josie Charles led off the bottom of the fifth inning with her second triple of the game and scored the go-ahead run on a single through the left side by first-year Lily Owens. Lehigh added another run on an RBI fielder's choice by first-year Sydney Parlett to go up 3-1.
Charles followed Barjaktarovich's record-breaking hit by reaching on an error and senior Emily Cimino brought both runners home with her second double of the game to put Lehigh up by four.
"It's apropos that Carley got the record on a hit that went about four and a half feet," Troyan said of Barjaktarovich's record-setting career. "She put a little bunt out in front of the plate, which she has become incredibly accomplished at. We're happy for Carley. Like I have said many times, she's the consummate Lehigh student-athlete and we're grateful that she took her fifth year with us this year."
Barjaktarovich, Charles, Cimino and Cannon all had two hits in the game as Lehigh finished with 11 against the Black Knights.
Hess improved to 15-5 on the season, allowing a run on four hits with four walks and six strikeouts. She also started a 1-6-3 double play that keyed a shutdown sixth inning.
"Chloe looked very good today," Troyan said. "She has done everything she needed to do. She got banged up a little bit but has been getting a lot of treatment in sports med. She's back to 100 percent. All we need her to do is be Chloe Hess and she did that today."
Gallery: (5-11-2023) Softball vs. Army PLT, 5/11/23
Friday's Lehigh-BU game will be the first of three on the tournament schedule. The winner will advance to Saturday's championship round while the loser will come back to play the winner of the 1:30 p.m. elimination game at 4 p.m. All Patriot League Tournament games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Like Lehigh Softball on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Four of the top five hitters in Lehigh's batting order recorded two hits, including graduate student Carley Barjaktarovich, who went 2-for-4 with a run scored, extending her school-record hitting streak to 35 games and becoming Lehigh softball's career hits leader with 264. Barjaktarovich broke the record of 263 set by Julie Fernandez '12 with a bunt single leading off the bottom of the sixth inning.
First-year Chloe Hess delivered a strong performance in the pitcher's circle to lead Lehigh, as the Mountain Hawks improve to 40-12 overall and reach the 40-win mark for the sixth time in program history. Lehigh will face top seed and host Boston University in a winner's bracket game Friday at 11 a.m.
"We ran ourselves out of some innings early on but I did love the aggressive nature of what we were doing," Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan said. "The aggressiveness carried over into the batter's box. From an offensive standpoint we played a fantastic game. Defensively we were great and Chloe had 97 pitches, which is fantastic for her and overall, fantastic for us."
Junior Brooke Cannon led off the home second with a single and scored the first run of the game when sophomore Rory Dudley hit a ball deep into the gap in left center that was jarred loose after a collision by the Army left fielder and center fielder.
Army (20-36) tied the game on Kaci Donaldson's RBI double in the fourth, but Hess was able to get out of the inning with a flyout and strikeout, stranding runners and second and third.
Senior Josie Charles led off the bottom of the fifth inning with her second triple of the game and scored the go-ahead run on a single through the left side by first-year Lily Owens. Lehigh added another run on an RBI fielder's choice by first-year Sydney Parlett to go up 3-1.
Charles followed Barjaktarovich's record-breaking hit by reaching on an error and senior Emily Cimino brought both runners home with her second double of the game to put Lehigh up by four.
"It's apropos that Carley got the record on a hit that went about four and a half feet," Troyan said of Barjaktarovich's record-setting career. "She put a little bunt out in front of the plate, which she has become incredibly accomplished at. We're happy for Carley. Like I have said many times, she's the consummate Lehigh student-athlete and we're grateful that she took her fifth year with us this year."
Barjaktarovich, Charles, Cimino and Cannon all had two hits in the game as Lehigh finished with 11 against the Black Knights.
Hess improved to 15-5 on the season, allowing a run on four hits with four walks and six strikeouts. She also started a 1-6-3 double play that keyed a shutdown sixth inning.
"Chloe looked very good today," Troyan said. "She has done everything she needed to do. She got banged up a little bit but has been getting a lot of treatment in sports med. She's back to 100 percent. All we need her to do is be Chloe Hess and she did that today."
Friday's Lehigh-BU game will be the first of three on the tournament schedule. The winner will advance to Saturday's championship round while the loser will come back to play the winner of the 1:30 p.m. elimination game at 4 p.m. All Patriot League Tournament games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Like Lehigh Softball on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hess, Chloe (15-5)
L: Grete, Alicyn (5-11)
Batting:
2B: Donaldson, Kaci 1
RBI: Donaldson, Kaci 1
SH: Wilkes, Maddie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brown, Taylor 1
Batting:
2B: Cimino, Emily 2
3B: Charles, Josie 2
RBI: Cimino, Emily 2 ; Owens, Lily 1 ; Parlett, Sydney 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Barjaktarovich, Carley 1 ; Charles, Josie 2 ; Owens, Lily 1 ; Cannon, Brooke 1
SB: Owens, Lily 1
CS: Cimino, Emily 1
HBP: Martin, Lindsey 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
IF
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballIF/OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
C/UT
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
UT
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