Lehigh University Athletics
Friday, February 6
Miami, Fla.
9:00 AM
Lehigh University
1-0
9
vs
5
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
0-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Lehigh
1
1
0
0
0
4
3
9
14
1
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
1
0
0
0
3
1
0
5
9
3
Strong Offensive Showing Powers Lehigh to Two Wins on Opening Day
2/6/2026 2:36:00 PM | Softball
MIAMI – The bats were hot for Lehigh softball on the opening day of the 2026 season Friday at FIU's Felsberg Invitational. The Mountain Hawks pounded out 26 hits and scored 24 runs in two victories Friday. A sixth-inning rally gave Lehigh a 9-5 win over Texas A&M – Corpus Christi in game one. The Mountain Hawks then posted a 15-6, five-inning win over Stony Brook in the nightcap.
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Senior Sydney Parlett led Lehigh with four hits Friday, all doubles, and drove in four runs as well. Classmate Crysta Duenas had two huge hits and totaled five RBIs over the two games. Duenas' two-run sixth-inning single against Texas A&M-CC gave Lehigh a 6-4 lead. She then had a three-run double in the bottom of the first inning against Stony Brook, giving Lehigh a 4-1 lead it would not relinquish.
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First-year Kyra Neiswender enjoyed a strong debut, going 3-for-6 over the two games with two doubles and four RBIs.
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Neiswender staked Lehigh to an early 1-0 lead in its first game of the day, doubling home sophomore Kelly Fricker in the top of the first inning. The Islanders tied the game in the bottom of the first before sophomore Helen Woloshyn singled home Parlett to put Lehigh up 2-1 in the second.
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Three unearned runs in the fifth put Texas A&M-CC in front 4-2 after five, but the Mountain Hawks responded with a four-run sixth inning. Sophomore Lizzie Kern singled home Neiswender and then scored the tying run on a double by Parlett. Duenas followed with a two-run single to give Lehigh a 6-4 lead.
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Texas A&M – Corpus Christi pulled a run back in the home sixth, but Lehigh added on three more in the seventh on RBI singles by Neiswender, Kern and senior Abbey Tabaka.
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Senior Chloe Hess started in the circle and allowed one earned run on five hits over 4.2 innings. She walked two and struck out two. Junior Maddy Clark allowed a run on four hits over 2.1 innings with one strikeout.
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Neiswender and Tabaka both had three hits against the Islanders.
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Rachael Brown put Stony Brook ahead in Lehigh's second game of the day with a first-inning RBI single only to see the Mountain Hawks answer with a four-run bottom of the first.
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Junior Peyton Sward scored from second on a throwing error and three batters later Duenas came up with the bases loaded and two outs and drilled a three-run double to left center, giving the Mountain Hawks a 4-1 lead.
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Lehigh scored at least three runs in all four times at bat against Stony Brook.
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With its lead cut to 4-3 in the second, the Mountain Hawks tallied four more runs on a Sward RBI single, a Neiswender sacrifice fly and a two-run double by Parlett. Lehigh added three more in the fourth, capped by another RBI double by Parlett, and four more in the fifth on a two-run error and then a two-run single by Clark.
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Sophomore Madison Finnerty started in the circle and allowed six runs on four hits over five innings. Finnerty struck out seven and walked six.
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Lehigh finished with 12 hits against the Seawolves, with Fricker, Sward and Parlett each tallying two.
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The Mountain Hawks continue action at the Felsberg Invitational on Saturday with games against Louisville (4:30 p.m.) and host FIU (7 p.m.). Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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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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Senior Sydney Parlett led Lehigh with four hits Friday, all doubles, and drove in four runs as well. Classmate Crysta Duenas had two huge hits and totaled five RBIs over the two games. Duenas' two-run sixth-inning single against Texas A&M-CC gave Lehigh a 6-4 lead. She then had a three-run double in the bottom of the first inning against Stony Brook, giving Lehigh a 4-1 lead it would not relinquish.
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First-year Kyra Neiswender enjoyed a strong debut, going 3-for-6 over the two games with two doubles and four RBIs.
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Neiswender staked Lehigh to an early 1-0 lead in its first game of the day, doubling home sophomore Kelly Fricker in the top of the first inning. The Islanders tied the game in the bottom of the first before sophomore Helen Woloshyn singled home Parlett to put Lehigh up 2-1 in the second.
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Three unearned runs in the fifth put Texas A&M-CC in front 4-2 after five, but the Mountain Hawks responded with a four-run sixth inning. Sophomore Lizzie Kern singled home Neiswender and then scored the tying run on a double by Parlett. Duenas followed with a two-run single to give Lehigh a 6-4 lead.
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Texas A&M – Corpus Christi pulled a run back in the home sixth, but Lehigh added on three more in the seventh on RBI singles by Neiswender, Kern and senior Abbey Tabaka.
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Senior Chloe Hess started in the circle and allowed one earned run on five hits over 4.2 innings. She walked two and struck out two. Junior Maddy Clark allowed a run on four hits over 2.1 innings with one strikeout.
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Neiswender and Tabaka both had three hits against the Islanders.
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Rachael Brown put Stony Brook ahead in Lehigh's second game of the day with a first-inning RBI single only to see the Mountain Hawks answer with a four-run bottom of the first.
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Junior Peyton Sward scored from second on a throwing error and three batters later Duenas came up with the bases loaded and two outs and drilled a three-run double to left center, giving the Mountain Hawks a 4-1 lead.
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Lehigh scored at least three runs in all four times at bat against Stony Brook.
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With its lead cut to 4-3 in the second, the Mountain Hawks tallied four more runs on a Sward RBI single, a Neiswender sacrifice fly and a two-run double by Parlett. Lehigh added three more in the fourth, capped by another RBI double by Parlett, and four more in the fifth on a two-run error and then a two-run single by Clark.
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Sophomore Madison Finnerty started in the circle and allowed six runs on four hits over five innings. Finnerty struck out seven and walked six.
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Lehigh finished with 12 hits against the Seawolves, with Fricker, Sward and Parlett each tallying two.
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The Mountain Hawks continue action at the Felsberg Invitational on Saturday with games against Louisville (4:30 p.m.) and host FIU (7 p.m.). Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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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 (1-0)
L: C. Rice (0-1)
Batting:
2B: E. Hayes 1
HR: R. Brown 1
RBI: E. Hayes 2 ; R. Brown 4
Base Running:
RUNS: E. Hayes 2 ; M. Vannelli 1 ; R. Brown 1 ; M. Hill 1 ; E. Scheiting 1
HBP: N. Ackerman 1
Batting:
2B: Parlett, Sydney 2 ; Duenas, Crysta 1
RBI: Sward, Peyton 1 ; Neiswender, Kyra 2 ; Parlett, Sydney 3 ; Clark, Maddy 2 ; Duenas, Crysta 3
SH: Fricker, Kelly 1
SF: Neiswender, Kyra 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Fricker, Kelly 3 ; Sward, Peyton 3 ; Neiswender, Kyra 1 ; D'Amico, Maia 1 ; Kern, Lizzie 2 ; Parlett, Sydney 1 ; Tabaka, Abbey 1 ; Woloshyn, Helen 2 ; Lodge, Megan 1
CS: Neiswender, Kyra 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
1
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
lf/cf
AB
3
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P/IF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballIF/OF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
C/IF
/ SoftballUT
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
OF
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