Posted: April 4, 2009
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Senior Lisa Sweeney and junior Tiffany Curtis each fired two-hit shutouts as Lehigh moved to 5-1 in the Patriot League with a pair of wins over Army Saturday afternoon at Kaufman Field. Sweeney struck out nine and was helped out by 14 Mountain Hawk hits as Lehigh rolled to an 8-0, six inning win in game one, while Curtis struck out 11 in the nightcap as Lehigh prevailed 4-0. The Mountain Hawks are now 17-14-1 overall, while Army falls to 12-23 overall and 2-4 in league games.
“Lisa and Tiffany both pitched very well today,” said Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan. “We really think that the tough competition we faced early in the year paid dividends and hopefully we can get on a nice little roll. We pitched well, we played strong defense and our offense got some clutch hits for us as well today.”
Sweeney and senior Whitney Lowe led Lehigh at the plate in game one with three hits apiece. The Mountain Hawks went in front in the bottom of the third when freshman Julie Fernandez drew a two-out walk and Sweeney followed with a single, which was mishandled by Jennae Tomlinson in left field, allowing Fernandez to score. Senior Alisha Gonzales followed with a two-run blast to left field, her fourth home run of the season, to extend Lehigh’s lead to 3-0.
The Mountain Hawks added to their lead with four runs in the fourth inning, as Sweeney drove in two runs with a single to center and Gonzales drove in two more with a double.
In the sixth, Lehigh wrapped up the victory via the eight run rule as Lowe led off with a triple and Fernandez singled her home.
Sweeney picked up her tenth victory of the season, allowing just two hits while walking two and striking out nine. She moves to 10-8 with her third shutout of the season.
In game two, Lehigh put all four of its runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Lowe started the inning with a one-out single. A walk to Fernandez and an infield single by Sweeney loaded the bases. Gonzales drove in her fifth run of the day with a single, and freshman Jen Colquhoun followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0 Lehigh. Sophomore Alex Cueva and junior Brooke Lewis followed by driving in runs with a fielder’s choice and a sacrifice fly respectively to put the Mountain Hawks up by four after one inning.
Curtis took care of the rest, allowing just a first inning single by Clara Navarro and a fifth inning pinch-hit single by Bethany Houdeshell on the way to her fourth shutout of the year. Curtis struck out eleven and walked just two as she improves to 7-4 on the season.
The Mountain Hawks and Black Knights will wrap-up their four game series with a doubleheader on Sunday. First pitch for game one is set for 12 p.m. from Kaufman Field. Streaming video of both games can be seen on Lehighsports.com beginning Sunday at 2:30 p.m.