Sunday, March 9
Fort Myers, Fla.
10:00 AM
Lehigh University
6-12
5
vs
4
Columbia
4-6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
R
H
E
Columbia
0
2
0
0
0
0
2
0
4
8
2
Lehigh
0
0
0
1
0
0
3
1
5
6
0
Photo by: Wendy Charles
Lehigh Takes Two From Columbia, Toledo Sunday In Florida
3/9/2025 3:24:00 PM | Softball
FORT MYERS, Fla. – Day two of the FGCU Spring Break Classic saw the Lehigh softball team come away with a pair of victories on Sunday. Trailing 4-1 with two outs in the seventh, the Mountain Hawks rallied to defeat Columbia 5-4 in eight innings in their first game of the day. Lehigh then received a strong pitching performance from first-year Madison Finnerty and seven different players drove in a run in an 8-1 win over Toledo.
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First-year Kelly Fricker had two hits in each game, sophomore Gracie Smith went 3-for-3 against Toledo and senior Maddy Schmeiser and sophomore Peyton Sward totaled three hits across the two games as the Mountain Hawks improve to 7-12 on the season.
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In Lehigh's first game of the day, Columbia (4-6) plated a pair of runs in the top of the second behind a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly to go up 2-0.
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The Mountain Hawks scored their first run in the fourth when Smith was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a sacrifice and then scored on a single to right center by Schmeiser.
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Back-to-back singles from Payton Shimansky and Cami Neal gave Columbia a 4-1 in the seventh inning.
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Sward came up with two on and two out in the seventh and singled home sophomore Maddy Clark to bring Lehigh within 4-2. Smith then reached on an error on a ball hit to left field allowing the tying runs to score.
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Finnerty came on in relief to get the final two outs of the seventh inning and then, with the international tiebreaker in place, kept the Lions off the scoreboard in the top of the eighth.
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Schmeiser reached on an error leading off the bottom of the eighth, allowing senior Julia Mrochko to score the winning run.
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Finnerty earned the win in the circle, allowing one walk while striking out two in 1.2 scoreless, hitless innings. Junior Chloe Hess started and allowed four runs on eight hits over 6.1 innings. Hess struck out five and walked five.
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Lehigh finished with six hits, including two by both Fricker and Schmeiser.
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Toledo (5-14) took a first-inning lead on Lehigh with a sacrifice fly plating an unearned run. It was all Lehigh from that point on.
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The Mountain Hawks scored two runs in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly off Mrochko's bat and an RBI double to right center by sophomore Holly Lovett.
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Lehigh added single runs in the third inning on a Schmeiser RBI single, and the fourth, on a run-scoring single by Sward to go up 4-1.
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A four-run fifth inning created a seven-run cushion for Lehigh. Sward, Clark and first-year Lizzie Kern picked up RBIs with Sward also scoring a run on a wild pitch.
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Finnerty was outstanding in the circle, allowing one unearned run on three hits in a complete-game effort. She struck out three and walked two to pick up her second win of the day, improving to 5-4 on the season.
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Smith went 3-for-3 against the Rockets, while Lovett and Sward both had two-hit games.
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The Mountain Hawks will wrap-up their Florida trip with a Monday doubleheader against host Florida Gulf Coast, with game one set for a 4 p.m. start.
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Follow Lehigh Softball on X/Twitter and Instagram and like on Facebook for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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First-year Kelly Fricker had two hits in each game, sophomore Gracie Smith went 3-for-3 against Toledo and senior Maddy Schmeiser and sophomore Peyton Sward totaled three hits across the two games as the Mountain Hawks improve to 7-12 on the season.
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In Lehigh's first game of the day, Columbia (4-6) plated a pair of runs in the top of the second behind a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly to go up 2-0.
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The Mountain Hawks scored their first run in the fourth when Smith was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a sacrifice and then scored on a single to right center by Schmeiser.
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Back-to-back singles from Payton Shimansky and Cami Neal gave Columbia a 4-1 in the seventh inning.
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Sward came up with two on and two out in the seventh and singled home sophomore Maddy Clark to bring Lehigh within 4-2. Smith then reached on an error on a ball hit to left field allowing the tying runs to score.
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Finnerty came on in relief to get the final two outs of the seventh inning and then, with the international tiebreaker in place, kept the Lions off the scoreboard in the top of the eighth.
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Schmeiser reached on an error leading off the bottom of the eighth, allowing senior Julia Mrochko to score the winning run.
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Finnerty earned the win in the circle, allowing one walk while striking out two in 1.2 scoreless, hitless innings. Junior Chloe Hess started and allowed four runs on eight hits over 6.1 innings. Hess struck out five and walked five.
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Lehigh finished with six hits, including two by both Fricker and Schmeiser.
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Toledo (5-14) took a first-inning lead on Lehigh with a sacrifice fly plating an unearned run. It was all Lehigh from that point on.
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The Mountain Hawks scored two runs in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly off Mrochko's bat and an RBI double to right center by sophomore Holly Lovett.
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Lehigh added single runs in the third inning on a Schmeiser RBI single, and the fourth, on a run-scoring single by Sward to go up 4-1.
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A four-run fifth inning created a seven-run cushion for Lehigh. Sward, Clark and first-year Lizzie Kern picked up RBIs with Sward also scoring a run on a wild pitch.
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Finnerty was outstanding in the circle, allowing one unearned run on three hits in a complete-game effort. She struck out three and walked two to pick up her second win of the day, improving to 5-4 on the season.
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Smith went 3-for-3 against the Rockets, while Lovett and Sward both had two-hit games.
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The Mountain Hawks will wrap-up their Florida trip with a Monday doubleheader against host Florida Gulf Coast, with game one set for a 4 p.m. start.
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Follow Lehigh Softball on X/Twitter and Instagram and like on Facebook for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Finnerty, Madison (4-4)
L: J. Hill (1-2)
Batting:
RBI: P. Shimansky 1 ; C. Neal 1 ; J. O'Brien 1 ; O. Madkins 1
SF: O. Madkins 1
Base Running:
RUNS: P. Shimansky 1 ; M. Souza 1 ; S. Mikami 1 ; O. Madkins 1
SB: O. Madkins 1
Batting:
RBI: Sward, Peyton 1 ; Schmeiser, Maddy 1
SH: Mrochko, Julia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Fricker, Kelly 1 ; Sward, Peyton 1 ; Smith, Gracie 1 ; Mrochko, Julia 1 ; Clark, Maddy 1
HBP: Smith, Gracie 1 ; Clark, Maddy 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
rf/ph
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
lf/dp
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P/IF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballIF/OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballIF
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