Saturday, April 23
1PM
Lehigh University
29-11
0
vs
2
UMBC
20-25
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
UMBC
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
6
3
Lehigh
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
1
Strong outing from Lattanzio, sixth inning rally power Lehigh to split with UMBC
4/23/2016 6:36:00 PM | Softball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning of game two and facing a doubleheader sweep, the Lehigh softball team scored four runs in the frame to take the second game of the twinbill with UMBC by a 4-1 score to earn the split. Senior Morgan Decker's two-run single drove home the go-ahead runs to support a strong pitching performance from junior Vicky Lattanzio in her first start of the season.
"I'm really happy for Vicky because she hasn't had a real opportunity to pitch," Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan said. "We may need her down the stretch. We committed to giving her a start. Not only did she pitch well, she pitched a fantastic game so we're very happy for her. In the sixth inning we were able to put together enough runs to do something."
UMBC's Kim Puccio limited Lehigh to two hits while the Retrievers pushed ahead two seventh inning runs to take the opener 2-0. With the split, Lehigh stands at 30-11 on the season. Saturday's game two victory gave Lehigh its 16th consecutive 30-win season. UMBC is now 20-26.
Lattanzio shook off a tough first inning to pitch a strong game in her first start of the season and her first appearance since March 16. Dani O'Neill's first inning RBI double gave UMBC a 1-0 lead. After Jordan Sganga's one-out double in the second, Lattanzio retired the next 14 UMBC hitters before Carly Lesko led off the top of the seventh with a single. Lattanzio closed out her first win of the season with a fielder's choice, a foul out to third and a fly out to center. She finished with a line of one run on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts.
"She's been throwing a lot in practice and has really been doing a great job," Troyan said of Lattanzio. "We felt like she had earned a start. We wanted to see what she could do in a game and she did a great job."
Offensively, Jessica Holte kept Lehigh at bay through the first five innings, allowing just three hits – one after seniors Alexis Watanabe and MacKenzie Velasquez led off with consecutive singles and were stranded – and getting help from two line drive double plays.
Sophomore Lindsay Phillips led off the bottom of the sixth with a single through the left side and Watanabe followed with a single to center. Velasquez dropped a sacrifice bunt but Jaclyn Buckley wasn't able to handle Lesko's throw as the ball went down the right field line allowing Velasquez to reach and Phillips to come around with the tying run. Decker then delivered a sharp single up the middle, scoring Watanabe and Velasquez to put Lehigh in front 3-1. A sacrifice bunt from sophomore Carolyn Wright moved pinch runner Carissa Zito to second and senior Jessica Calvini followed with a RBI double down the left field line to cap the four-run inning.
"The fact of the matter is we had more quality at-bats in the sixth inning of the second game than we did in any of the other innings we played today," Troyan said.
In game one, junior Christine Campbell and UMBC's Kim Puccio navigated their way in and out of jams through six innings. The Retrievers put runners on base in five of the first six innings but Campbell kept UMBC off the board. Lehigh also had runners in five of the first innings, with two hits and five walks but could not score.
UMBC loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh behind two hits and a walk. Bridget O'Malley's RBI single to center gave the Retrievers a 1-0 lead but freshman Ashley Quidolit threw pinch runner Mallory Pollack out at the plate. A wild pitch from Campbell scored Morgan Peyou to extend UMBC's lead to 2-0 before Campbell got out of the inning.
Lehigh put the first two batters on in the bottom of the seventh as sophomore Katie Schultz drew a leadoff walk and then Wright reached on an error. Quidolit grounded into a fielder's choice, with Schultz thrown out at third before Puccio got Watanabe and Velasquez to fly out to end the game.
Puccio walked five and struck out two and allowed just an infield single to Velasquez and a single by Schultz.
Campbell saw her record fall to 17-5 allowing two runs on six hits with four walks and five strikeouts. Both teams left eight runners on base in the opener.
The Mountain Hawks are scheduled to make up their three game series at Boston University this week with a doubleheader currently set for a 1 p.m. start on Tuesday with a single game to follow at noon on Wednesday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Puccio (6-3)
L: Campbell, Christine (17-6)
Batting:
RBI: O'Malley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Peyou 1 ; Rider 1
HBP: O'Neill 1 ; Sganga 1
Batting:
SH: Timberman, Rachel 1
Base Running:
SB: Watanabe, Alexis 1
CS: Gerhardt, Brianna 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
IF/OF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
C
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