Saturday, May 9
12 PM
Lehigh University
39-7
8
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Bucknell
35-20
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Lehigh
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Bucknell
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Lehigh blanks Bucknell 8-0 to claim 13th Patriot League softball title
5/9/2015 4:05:00 PM | Softball
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After a two-year drought, the Lehigh softball team is back on top. The Mountain Hawks scored single runs in four of the first five innings and broke the game open with a four-run sixth to claim their league-best 13th Patriot League Tournament title, beating Bucknell 8-0 in six innings Saturday at Leadership Park.
Freshman Nicole Yozzo went 3-for-3 with two RBI and junior Morgan Decker drove in two as well to support senior Emily Bausher, who fired a four-hitter to post her Patriot League record-tying 11th shutout of the season.
"The girls came out with a clear focus today," Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan said. "They played with a tremendous amount of energy and when number two, Bausher is in the circle we have a good chance of winning. She showed a lot of guts pitching three days in a row. When you don't give up an earned run on the entire weekend you have a good chance of winning."
The Mountain Hawks are now headed to the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time overall and the eighth time in the last 12 years. Bausher was named Tournament MVP and was joined on the All-Tournament team by senior Emma Capetz and juniors Alexis Watanabe and Jessica Calvini.
Lehigh, the designated visiting team, opened the top of the first inning with back-to-back infield singles by Yozzo and Watanabe. With runners on second and third, Decker hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Yozzo to give the Mountain Hawks a 1-0 lead.
"It was an amazing experience getting that run in the first inning and setting the tone for the rest of the game and then scoring in most of the other innings," Bausher said. "I'm so proud of these girls."
In the second, the Mountain Hawks put together a two-out rally to scrape a second run across the board. Capetz drilled a two-out triple to right field and two batters later scored on a bloop single to right by Yozzo.
Bucknell had a chance to get a run back as Meghan Kovac led off the bottom of the second with a triple off Calvini's glove in deep right but Bausher got a strikeout followed by a ground out and a lineout to get out of the jam with no scoring.
Capetz started Lehigh's fourth inning rally with a one-out single and she moved to third on a single by junior MacKenzie Velasquez. Yozzo picked up her second RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly to center and Lehigh led 3-0 in the middle of the fourth inning.
Another two-out rally in the fifth allowed Lehigh to extend its lead to 4-0. Calvini started the rally with a single up the middle and moved to third on a Bausher single before scoring on an infield single to shortstop by senior Cassie Waggy.
Lehigh doubled its advantage with four runs in the top of the sixth off Bison reliever Dana Nielsen. The Mountain Hawks opened the inning with four consecutive singles, the fourth coming from Decker who brought home Velasquez with a single to right. Freshman Katie Schultz then drew a based-loaded walk to bring Yozzo home and make the score 6-0 Lehigh. Calvini drove home Watanabe with a ground out to shortstop while freshman pinch runner Rachel Timberman scored the Mountain Hawks' eighth run on a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the sixth, Bausher retired the first two batters quickly before Kovac's third hit of the game kept the Bison alive. Bausher then got Erin Cox to fly out to Schultz to end the game and send the Mountain Hawks into a celebration on their home field.
Bausher allowed four hits and walked two while striking out four as she improves to 21-5 on the season. The Patriot League Pitcher of the Year did not allow an earned run in three tournament appearances and has not allowed an earned run in 37 consecutive innings.
"They started strong and they finished strong," Troyan said of his four seniors. "Their legacy is that they led the way. They're a tremendous group of leaders from start to finish; Brandi (Hawkins), Emma, Cassie, and Emily. They'll all have a soft spot in all the hearts of Lehigh fans and me for the rest of their lives."
Amanda Fazio took the loss for Bucknell, allowing four runs on nine hits in 4.2 innings of work. She falls to 19-12 on the season. Kovac was 3-for-3 with a triple, double and single to lead Bucknell, which finishes its season at 35-20.
The Mountain Hawks finished with 13 hits. In addition to Yozzo's three hits, Watanabe, Capetz and Velasquez each recorded two hits to lead the Lehigh attack.
Lehigh will now await the NCAA selection show to find out where it is headed for regional tournament competition. The sites and pairings will be announced Sunday night at 10 p.m. EDT on ESPNU, available on Service Electric cable dial position 174.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bausher, Emily (21-5)
L: Fazio, Amanda (19-12)
Batting:
3B: Capetz, Emma 1
RBI: Yozzo, Nicole 2 ; Decker, Morgan 2 ; Schultz, Katie 1 ; Calvini, Jessica 1 ; Waggy, Cassie 1
SF: Yozzo, Nicole 1 ; Decker, Morgan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Yozzo, Nicole 2 ; Watanabe, Alexis 1 ; Timberman, Rachel 1 ; Calvini, Jessica 1 ; Capetz, Emma 2 ; Velasquez, MacKenzie 1
SB: Yozzo, Nicole 1 ; Watanabe, Alexis 1
Batting:
2B: Kovac, Meghan 1
3B: Kovac, Meghan 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
2
H
3
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
cf/rf
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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