Friday, February 9
College Station, Texas
1:30 PM
Lehigh University
vs
Tulsa
Photo by: Jason Homan
Lehigh Set To Kick Off 2024 Season At Texas A&M's Aggie Classic
2/8/2024 11:38:00 AM | Softball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Lehigh softball opens its 2024 season this weekend with the Aggie Classic in College Station, Texas.
On Friday, Lehigh is slated to play Tulsa at 12:30 p.m. and host Texas A&M at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, the Mountain Hawks will face Valparaiso at 10 a.m. and then will have a rematch with the host Aggies at 3:30 p.m. The opening tournament concludes with a 9 a.m. game against Valpo Sunday morning. All times listed are Central Standard.
Live stats will be available for all five games, while the two games against Texas A&M will be streamed on SEC Network+.
Last season, the Mountain Hawks posted the sixth 40-win season in program history, finishing 40-14. They defeated No. 7/9 Alabama on opening day and had an 11 game winning streak during the season.Â
Lehigh lost just two players from last year's team, including Carley Barjaktarovich who holds the school record for career hits. Additionally, graduate students Josie Charles and Emily Cimino and senior Katelyn Young were named on the Patriot League's preseason all-league team earlier this month. The team came in second to Boston University's in the league's preseason poll.Â
Charles, Cimino and Young are three of Lehigh's six returning All-Patriot League honorees from last season, along with senior outfielder Brooke Cannon, sophomore pitcher Chloe Hess and sophomore third baseman Sydney Parlett.
Texas A&M is currently ranked 24th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball preseason rankings. Last season, the Aggies went 35-21 and were eliminated by No. 8 Texas in the NCAA regional tournament. They are now led by senior catcher Julia Cottrill who hit .331 last season with ten home runs, 43 RBIs, and a .617 slugging percentage, earning NFCA third team Al-America and All-SEC first team recognition.Â
Valpo had a disappointing 8-41 record last season and went 4-23 in the Missouri Valley Conference.Â
Tulsa went 25-28 last season including a 9-9 record in the American Athletic Conference.Â
Lehigh has played Texas A&M six times previously, with the Mountain Hawks and Aggies splitting the previous six meetings, all of which came in NCAA Regional action. The Mountain Hawks stunned the Aggies twice in the 2006 Amherst (Mass.) Regional and the teams split two games in the 2009 Gainesville (Fla.) Regional, with Lehigh eliminating Texas A&M from the tournament. Texas A&M won the two most recent meetings in Norman, Okla. 2-1 and 5-0 in 2015.
The Mountain Hawks are 2-2 all-time against Valparaiso with Valpo winning the first meeting in 2007 and Lehigh winning 2-of-3 games in 2008. Lehigh has never faced Tulsa but the teams were in the same NCAA Norman Regional in 2012.
Tournament information including live stats and streaming links can be found at: https://12thman.com/sports/2024/1/5/2024-texas-am-softball-home-tournaments.Â
Following the Aggie Classic, Lehigh will play in James Madison's Weiler Orthodontics Invitational, featuring JMU, George Mason and Villanova, Feb. 16-18.
Story by Sandler Douglas '24
Like Lehigh Softball on Facebook and follow on X/Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
On Friday, Lehigh is slated to play Tulsa at 12:30 p.m. and host Texas A&M at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, the Mountain Hawks will face Valparaiso at 10 a.m. and then will have a rematch with the host Aggies at 3:30 p.m. The opening tournament concludes with a 9 a.m. game against Valpo Sunday morning. All times listed are Central Standard.
Live stats will be available for all five games, while the two games against Texas A&M will be streamed on SEC Network+.
Last season, the Mountain Hawks posted the sixth 40-win season in program history, finishing 40-14. They defeated No. 7/9 Alabama on opening day and had an 11 game winning streak during the season.Â
Lehigh lost just two players from last year's team, including Carley Barjaktarovich who holds the school record for career hits. Additionally, graduate students Josie Charles and Emily Cimino and senior Katelyn Young were named on the Patriot League's preseason all-league team earlier this month. The team came in second to Boston University's in the league's preseason poll.Â
Charles, Cimino and Young are three of Lehigh's six returning All-Patriot League honorees from last season, along with senior outfielder Brooke Cannon, sophomore pitcher Chloe Hess and sophomore third baseman Sydney Parlett.
Texas A&M is currently ranked 24th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball preseason rankings. Last season, the Aggies went 35-21 and were eliminated by No. 8 Texas in the NCAA regional tournament. They are now led by senior catcher Julia Cottrill who hit .331 last season with ten home runs, 43 RBIs, and a .617 slugging percentage, earning NFCA third team Al-America and All-SEC first team recognition.Â
Valpo had a disappointing 8-41 record last season and went 4-23 in the Missouri Valley Conference.Â
Tulsa went 25-28 last season including a 9-9 record in the American Athletic Conference.Â
Lehigh has played Texas A&M six times previously, with the Mountain Hawks and Aggies splitting the previous six meetings, all of which came in NCAA Regional action. The Mountain Hawks stunned the Aggies twice in the 2006 Amherst (Mass.) Regional and the teams split two games in the 2009 Gainesville (Fla.) Regional, with Lehigh eliminating Texas A&M from the tournament. Texas A&M won the two most recent meetings in Norman, Okla. 2-1 and 5-0 in 2015.
The Mountain Hawks are 2-2 all-time against Valparaiso with Valpo winning the first meeting in 2007 and Lehigh winning 2-of-3 games in 2008. Lehigh has never faced Tulsa but the teams were in the same NCAA Norman Regional in 2012.
Tournament information including live stats and streaming links can be found at: https://12thman.com/sports/2024/1/5/2024-texas-am-softball-home-tournaments.Â
Following the Aggie Classic, Lehigh will play in James Madison's Weiler Orthodontics Invitational, featuring JMU, George Mason and Villanova, Feb. 16-18.
Story by Sandler Douglas '24
Like Lehigh Softball on Facebook and follow on X/Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Players Mentioned
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UT
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