Posted: 04/17/2012
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Lehigh (28-16, 11-1 PL) will host a doubleheader against the Princeton Tigers on Wednesday in the Mountain Hawks’ “Fight Against Cancer!” games. The Mountain Hawks will don pink uniforms for the doubleheader, which begins at 3:30 p.m. from Kaufman Field and will be collecting donations for the Fight Against Cancer!
There is no charge for admission for Lehigh softball games at Kaufman Field, but donations are welcome with the proceeds going to Fight Against Cancer! Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan will be making a donation of his own in addition to the monies raised.
The Mountain Hawks have won nine of their last 11 games, including taking three of four against league opponent Holy Cross this past weekend in Massachusetts. Lehigh outscored Holy Cross 23-3 in the series and pounded out 35 hits, including ten doubles in the four games. Senior Julie Fernandez smacked four of those doubles and broke the Patriot League’s all-time doubles record in the process. Fernandez now has 59 for her career, three more than the previous record held set by Nicki Robbins of Army from 1999-02. Fernandez became Lehigh’s career leader in doubles earlier this season.
Senior Jen Colquhoun was solid against Holy Cross in batting .500 for the series with six hits and three RBIs. Colquhoun continues to lead the team in overall batting average (.439), hits (61), triples (six), runs scored (40), home runs (13), and RBI (45). She is one of six Mountain Hawks with at least 33 hits this season. Fernandez, freshman Cassie Waggy, junior Rosie Roessel, junior Liz Lucas, and senior Audra Wood are the others.
On Monday, Waggy was named the league’s rookie of the week for the second time this season. The California native went 8-of-17 with six RBI in six games last week. Five of those hits came against Holy Cross where she batted .455 in four games. Waggy is batting .386 with 19 RBIs this season.
Princeton (12-23, 6-6 Ivy League) will be Lehigh’s fourth Ivy League opponent this season. The Tigers dropped three of four this past weekend against Penn. After a tough start to the season, Princeton has rebounded nicely in recent weeks with series victories against Ivy rivals Dartmouth and Yale.
Princeton is batting .260 as a team and has received solid offensive contributions from several players. The Tigers are led by Alyssa Schmidt (.319 Avg., 29 hits, 14 RBIs), Nicole Ontiveros (.319 Avg., 36 hits, 12 RBIs), Alex Peyton (.312 Avg., 34 hits, 7 home runs, 25 RBIs), and Kelsey VandeBergh (.310 Avg., 31 hits, 4 home runs, 18 RBIs).
Liza Kuhn is the Tigers’ top pitcher with a 5-10 record and 3.69 ERA. Kuhn has recorded 98 of the team’s 183 strikeouts this season and pitched 10 complete games. Kuhn was recently named the Ivy League’s Softball Pitcher of the Week for her shutout performance against Seton Hall and win over Yale.
Lehigh and Princeton split a pair of meeting last season with the Tigers leading the all-time series 30-11. Lehigh has dominated the series recently in winning eight of the last 11 meetings since 2006.
Wednesday’s doubleheader will begin at 3:30 from Kaufman Field. Both games will be broadcast online at Lehighsports.com.
Story by Antoine Williams ‘12