Saturday, May 11
Boston, Mass.
12:00 PM
Lehigh University
32-20
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Boston U.
52-4-1
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Boston University
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Lehigh
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6
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Photo by: Jim Pierce
Lehigh Drops Tightly-Contested 1-0, 8-Inning Final At Boston U.
5/11/2024 4:34:00 PM | Softball
BOSTON – Lehigh and No. 22 Boston University battled through seven scoreless innings Saturday in the championship round of the Patriot League Tournament. An unearned run in the top of the eighth proved to be decisive as the host Terriers captured their second straight title with a 1-0 win over the Mountain Hawks Saturday at BU Softball Field.
The Mountain Hawks got an outstanding pitching performance from senior Katelyn Young and had a 6-5 edge in hits but couldn't push a run across against the duo of Allison Boaz and Kasey Ricard.
Lehigh's season ends with a 32-20 record. The Mountain Hawks' four games against BU this season were decided by a total of five runs.
Young threw eight innings without allowing an earned run in her final appearance in the Brown and White. She allowed five hits, walked four and struck out four.
Boston University (52-4-1) first threatened in the top of the second, putting two in scoring position with one out, but Young came back to strike out Kate Pryor and Boaz to keep the game scoreless.
The Terriers nearly took the lead in the fourth on Lauren Nett's infield single up the middle, but first-year Peyton Sward through out Brooke Deppiesse at the plate to keep the game scoreless. BU then loaded the bases with two outs but Young worked out of a jam with a ground ball that turned into a force play at second base.
Junior Julia Mrochko made an outstanding defensive play to record the first out of the fifth inning, diving to her right near second base and then flipping to Sward for a force play.
At the plate, Lehigh threatened with two on and two out in the second before Boaz caught junior Lindsey Martin looking at a third strike. The Mountain Hawks had two on with one out in the fifth but graduate student Josie Charles was called out for making contact outside the batters box and then then first-year Gracie Smith grounded out to third.
Mrochko led off the home seventh with a single to center but with one out, Ricard came on in relief to get the final two outs, sending the game to extra innings.
In the eighth, Deppiesse drilled a one-out double to center field. She moved to third on a ground out to second base. Nett then hit a ground ball to second that Mrochko couldn't handle, allowing Deppiesse to score.
Ricard struck out the side in the eighth to wrap up the championship for BU.
"Katelyn pitched a wonderful game and we had our opportunities," Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan said. "I can't wait to go back and look at the video. I don't feel like our players were out of the box but maybe they were. That rule impacted the game and I don't think it was meant to impact the game that much. It's part of the game. I feel bad for Katelyn who threw such a good game only to lose on a miscue."
Mrochko led Lehigh at the plate with two hits.
Charles, Young and graduate student Emily Cimino were named to the All-Tournament Team. Cimino finishes her career with 165 RBIs, tying her with Liz Lucas '13 and Kim Miller '96 for the Lehigh and Patriot League records.
Lehigh will lose that All-Tournament Team trio plus Brooke Cannon, Ansley Dambach and Amanda Greaney.
"They got us through the pandemic better than we were before," Troyan said of his seniors. "I give them a ton of credit. They're going to have a legacy that we're going to be able to build upon."
Troyan credited his team for the growth they showed throughout the season.
"We were 3-9 coming back from Virginia and we were not very good at all," Troyan said. "We had a bunch of 'come to Jesus' meetings and the team responded incredibly well. They went from a team that wasn't very good to honestly, one of the best teams we've ever had. They just happened to run into a team that by Patriot League standards, was elite."
Like Lehigh Softball on Facebook and follow on X/Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
The Mountain Hawks got an outstanding pitching performance from senior Katelyn Young and had a 6-5 edge in hits but couldn't push a run across against the duo of Allison Boaz and Kasey Ricard.
Lehigh's season ends with a 32-20 record. The Mountain Hawks' four games against BU this season were decided by a total of five runs.
Young threw eight innings without allowing an earned run in her final appearance in the Brown and White. She allowed five hits, walked four and struck out four.
Boston University (52-4-1) first threatened in the top of the second, putting two in scoring position with one out, but Young came back to strike out Kate Pryor and Boaz to keep the game scoreless.
The Terriers nearly took the lead in the fourth on Lauren Nett's infield single up the middle, but first-year Peyton Sward through out Brooke Deppiesse at the plate to keep the game scoreless. BU then loaded the bases with two outs but Young worked out of a jam with a ground ball that turned into a force play at second base.
Junior Julia Mrochko made an outstanding defensive play to record the first out of the fifth inning, diving to her right near second base and then flipping to Sward for a force play.
Mrochko with the dive and the flip to get the force! #PLTop3 #SCTop10
— Lehigh Softball (@Lehighsoftball) May 11, 2024
Watch: https://t.co/a0zTyT4Eas@PatriotLeagueTV @espn pic.twitter.com/RTQ2sA710u
At the plate, Lehigh threatened with two on and two out in the second before Boaz caught junior Lindsey Martin looking at a third strike. The Mountain Hawks had two on with one out in the fifth but graduate student Josie Charles was called out for making contact outside the batters box and then then first-year Gracie Smith grounded out to third.
Mrochko led off the home seventh with a single to center but with one out, Ricard came on in relief to get the final two outs, sending the game to extra innings.
In the eighth, Deppiesse drilled a one-out double to center field. She moved to third on a ground out to second base. Nett then hit a ground ball to second that Mrochko couldn't handle, allowing Deppiesse to score.
Ricard struck out the side in the eighth to wrap up the championship for BU.
"Katelyn pitched a wonderful game and we had our opportunities," Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan said. "I can't wait to go back and look at the video. I don't feel like our players were out of the box but maybe they were. That rule impacted the game and I don't think it was meant to impact the game that much. It's part of the game. I feel bad for Katelyn who threw such a good game only to lose on a miscue."
Mrochko led Lehigh at the plate with two hits.
Charles, Young and graduate student Emily Cimino were named to the All-Tournament Team. Cimino finishes her career with 165 RBIs, tying her with Liz Lucas '13 and Kim Miller '96 for the Lehigh and Patriot League records.
Lehigh will lose that All-Tournament Team trio plus Brooke Cannon, Ansley Dambach and Amanda Greaney.
"They got us through the pandemic better than we were before," Troyan said of his seniors. "I give them a ton of credit. They're going to have a legacy that we're going to be able to build upon."
Troyan credited his team for the growth they showed throughout the season.
"We were 3-9 coming back from Virginia and we were not very good at all," Troyan said. "We had a bunch of 'come to Jesus' meetings and the team responded incredibly well. They went from a team that wasn't very good to honestly, one of the best teams we've ever had. They just happened to run into a team that by Patriot League standards, was elite."
Like Lehigh Softball on Facebook and follow on X/Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ricard, Kasey (27-3)
L: Young, Katelyn (16-11)
Batting:
2B: Deppiesse, Brooke 1
SH: Avery, Lizzy 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Deppiesse, Brooke 1
SB: Nett, Lauren 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
IF/OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
P/UT
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
P
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