Friday, February 23
Charlottesville, Va.
12:30 PM
Lehigh University
2-6
4
vs
5
Iowa State
7-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Lehigh
0
1
0
0
0
3
0
4
10
1
Iowa State
0
0
0
0
5
0
X
5
6
0
Photo by: Mario Terrana
Mountain Hawks Fall To Iowa State, Virginia On Day One Of Rawlings Classic
2/23/2024 9:00:00 PM | Softball
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Facing a pair of Power 5 opponents, the Lehigh softball team dropped a pair of contests Friday to open the Rawlings Classic. A five-run fifth inning did in the Mountain Hawks in a 5-4 loss to Iowa State in Lehigh's first game of the day. Virginia's Eden Bigham delivered a dominant pitching performance to lead the host Cavaliers to a 9-0 five-inning win in Friday's nightcap.
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Junior Rory Dudley totaled three hits on the day, while graduate student Emily Cimino and first-year Peyton Sward both had two against the Cyclones. Lehigh is now 2-7 on the season.
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Lehigh struck first against the Cyclones (7-4) with a run in the top of the second. Sward led off with a single, stole second, took third on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Sydney Parlett and then scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of junior Julia Mrochko.
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Senior Katelyn Young held Iowa State in check through the first four innings before running into trouble in the fifth. Iowa State's Tiana Poole doubled home the tying run and then scored the go-ahead run on an Olivia Wardlow single. Another RBI single and a bases loaded walk brought home three more runs to give the Cyclones a 5-1 lead after five innings.
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The Mountain Hawks answered with three runs in the top of the sixth. Lehigh's first three batters reached base and Mrochko's RBI fielder's choice scored Dudley to bring Lehigh within 5-2. A run-scoring single by senior Amanda Greaney brought Lehigh within two and another RBI fielder's choice, this time by first-year Gracie Smith, brought the Mountain Hawks within 5-4.
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Smith was called out for leaving first base early to end the threat and the Mountain Hawks went down in order against Karlie Charles in the seventh.
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Young allowed five runs on five hits over five innings with three walks and five strikeouts. Junior Maria Urban threw a scoreless inning of relief.
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Aziza Rodriguez allowed two runs on eight hits for the Cyclones. Six different players recorded one hit for Iowa State.
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Bigham was the story for Virginia (7-4) in Lehigh's second game of the day as she struck out 14 Mountain Hawks, including the first 12 Lehigh batters of the game. Dudley recorded Lehigh's lone hit with a one-out single in the fifth.
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Jade Hylton went 3-for-3 with five RBIs to lead the Cavaliers. She opened the scoring with a three-run home run in the fifth inning. Sarah Coon added an RBI double in the second and the Cavaliers put the game away with a five-run bottom of the fifth.
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Sophomore Chloe Hess took the loss, allowing six runs on nine hits in four-plus innings before giving way to senior Ansley Dambach.
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Lehigh will face Virginia for a second time (12:30 p.m.) and Delaware (6 p.m.) Saturday on day two of the Rawlings Classic. The Virginia game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
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Like Lehigh Softball on Facebook and follow on X/Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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Junior Rory Dudley totaled three hits on the day, while graduate student Emily Cimino and first-year Peyton Sward both had two against the Cyclones. Lehigh is now 2-7 on the season.
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Lehigh struck first against the Cyclones (7-4) with a run in the top of the second. Sward led off with a single, stole second, took third on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Sydney Parlett and then scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of junior Julia Mrochko.
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Senior Katelyn Young held Iowa State in check through the first four innings before running into trouble in the fifth. Iowa State's Tiana Poole doubled home the tying run and then scored the go-ahead run on an Olivia Wardlow single. Another RBI single and a bases loaded walk brought home three more runs to give the Cyclones a 5-1 lead after five innings.
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The Mountain Hawks answered with three runs in the top of the sixth. Lehigh's first three batters reached base and Mrochko's RBI fielder's choice scored Dudley to bring Lehigh within 5-2. A run-scoring single by senior Amanda Greaney brought Lehigh within two and another RBI fielder's choice, this time by first-year Gracie Smith, brought the Mountain Hawks within 5-4.
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Smith was called out for leaving first base early to end the threat and the Mountain Hawks went down in order against Karlie Charles in the seventh.
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Young allowed five runs on five hits over five innings with three walks and five strikeouts. Junior Maria Urban threw a scoreless inning of relief.
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Aziza Rodriguez allowed two runs on eight hits for the Cyclones. Six different players recorded one hit for Iowa State.
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Bigham was the story for Virginia (7-4) in Lehigh's second game of the day as she struck out 14 Mountain Hawks, including the first 12 Lehigh batters of the game. Dudley recorded Lehigh's lone hit with a one-out single in the fifth.
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Jade Hylton went 3-for-3 with five RBIs to lead the Cavaliers. She opened the scoring with a three-run home run in the fifth inning. Sarah Coon added an RBI double in the second and the Cavaliers put the game away with a five-run bottom of the fifth.
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Sophomore Chloe Hess took the loss, allowing six runs on nine hits in four-plus innings before giving way to senior Ansley Dambach.
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Lehigh will face Virginia for a second time (12:30 p.m.) and Delaware (6 p.m.) Saturday on day two of the Rawlings Classic. The Virginia game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
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Like Lehigh Softball on Facebook and follow on X/Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Rodriguez, Aziza (2-0)
L: Young, Katelyn (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Charles, Josie 1 ; Cimino, Emily 1 ; Mrochko, Julia 1
RBI: Smith, Gracie 1 ; Mrochko, Julia 2 ; Greaney, Amanda 1
SH: Parlett, Sydney 1
SF: Mrochko, Julia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dudley, Rory 1 ; Sward, Peyton 2 ; Mrochko, Julia 1
SB: Sward, Peyton 1
HBP: Cannon, Brooke 1
Batting:
2B: Poole, Tiana 1 ; Marin, Camille 1
RBI: Ochoa, Milaysia 1 ; Ranches, Alesia 1 ; Poole, Tiana 1 ; Wardlow, Olivia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ochoa, Milaysia 1 ; Spelhaug, Carli 1 ; Poole, Tiana 1 ; Andrews, McKenna 1 ; Wardlow, Olivia 1
SB: Ochoa, Milaysia 1 ; Ranches, Alesia 1 ; Andrews, McKenna 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
1b/c
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
P/UT
/ SoftballC/UT
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
UT
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P
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