Saturday, May 14
11:30 AM
Lehigh University
36-16
1
vs
3
Army
39-19
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3
4
5
6
7
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H
E
Army
0
1
1
0
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6
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Lehigh
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1
4
4
Lehigh eliminated from PLT with 3-1 setback against Army West Point
5/14/2016 3:24:00 PM | Softball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh softball team saw its season come to an end Saturday with a 3-1 loss to Army West Point in game five of the Patriot League Tournament at Leadership Park. The Black Knights took advantage of a season high-tying four Mountain Hawk errors and limited Lehigh's biggest offensive threat of the day to just one run as Army moves into Sunday's championship round against Boston University.
Junior Ashley Cole went 2-for-3 at the plate to lead the Mountain Hawks, whose season ends at 36-16.
"We had plenty of opportunities to make plays and come up with big hits and so did they and they made the big plays and we didn't," Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan said. "They came up with big hits and we didn't. The life lesson in that is that when your moment comes up and you have an opportunity you've got to make the most of it. We had a tremendous season, but what happened down the stretch is what really matters."
The Black Knights (39-19) out-hit the Mountain Hawks 6-4 and threatened in every inning after putting the leadoff batter on in their first six times at bat.
Army's Kristen McPeek led off the top of the second inning with a single and was sacrificed to second. With two outs, Maddie Kim hit a fly ball to center field that got caught up in the wind. Senior MacKenzie Velasquez charged the ball, but was unable to make the catch on the edge of the infield dirt, as McPeek raced around from second to give the Black Knights a 1-0 lead.
"It started in the second inning when we would have gotten out of the inning, but the wind carried the ball back into the infield," Troyan said. "It was a tough chance. We didn't make the play in center field. That scored a run right there."
The Black Knights tacked on a second run in the third inning when Kasey McCravey led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice. Alee Rashenskas singled to center, and despite a strong throw from Velasquez, McCravey leapt over Carissa Zito's tag and touched the plate with her hand to score Army West Point's second run.
Army pitcher Renee Poirier kept Lehigh to just one hit through the first three innings, a Cole single, before junior Vicky Lattanzio singled with one out in the fourth. Senior Jessica Calvini was then hit by a pitch and Cole delivered her second hit of the game to load the bases with just one out. A wild pitch by Poirier brought home pinch runner Nicole Yozzo to put the Mountain Hawks on the board, but Poirier got sophomore Rachel Timberman to foul out to the catcher on a 3-2 pitch and then struck out sophomore Carolyn Wright to end the threat.
Carolyn Smith led off the top of the sixth with a single through the left side and after a pair of Lehigh errors, came home to give the Black Knights a 3-1 lead. Freshman Emily Sorem was able to navigate a bases-loaded, no-out jam allowing just the one run.
Lehigh's fourth and final hit was an infield single by Watanabe with one out in the bottom of the hit, but Poirier got Velasquez to hit into a double play and set down the final six Mountain Hawks in order to close out her second win of the day.
After beating Bucknell 3-2 in Saturday's first game, Poirier limited Lehigh to a run on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts to improve to 11-5 on the season.
Junior Christine Campbell started for Lehigh and allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits in three-plus innings as she ends her junior campaign at 20-9. Sorem allowed an unearned run on three hits in four innings of work.
Army West Point will play Boston University in the championship round, beginning Sunday at 10 a.m. needing two wins to claim the title, while the Terriers need to win just once.
Lehigh will lose five seniors to graduation including four-time All-Patriot League selections Morgan Decker and Watanabe, plus Velasquez, Calvini and Zito.
"They had a tremendous career, all five of them," Troyan said of his senior class. "The fact of the matter is that Morgan Decker and Alexis Watanabe are two of our best players of all time. We need to thank them for putting Lehigh softball up on top, but our goal is to keep our program up there as we go forward."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Poirier, Renee (11-5)
L: Campbell, Christine (20-9)
Batting:
RBI: Wadyka, Mae 1 ; Rashenskas, Alee 1
SH: Wadyka, Mae 1 ; Esparza-Gallegos, G. 1 ; Reilly, Carrie 1 ; Yoo, Ashley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McCravey, Kasey 1 ; McPeek, Kristen 1 ; Smith, Caroline 1
HBP: Esparza-Gallegos, G. 1 ; Smith, Caroline 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Yozzo, Nicole 1
SB: Watanabe, Alexis 1
HBP: Calvini, Jessica 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
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AB
3
R
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H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
IF/OF
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