April 12, 2008

Game 1 Box Score: Lehigh 2, Bucknell 1 (8 in.)
Game 2 Box Score: Bucknell 15, Lehigh 8 (8 in.)

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - After narrowly losing game one 2-1 in eight innings, the Bucknell softball team salvaged a split of its Patriot League doubleheader at Lehigh on Saturday by scoring seven runs in the top of the eighth inning of game two to win 15-8. The Bison pounded out a season-high 18 hits and overcame six errors to defeat the Mountain Hawks in a regular season contest for the first time since 2001.

Bucknell, which has won seven of its last nine games and remains one game behind Lehigh in the league standings, is now 15-22 this season and 6-4 in league play. The Mountain Hawks are 26-10-1 and 7-3 in conference, their most PL losses since 2002. The Bison had lost 29 of their last 30 games with Lehigh entering Saturday's play. The only win during that span was in the 2005 Patriot League Tournament.

The two contests Saturday were polar opposites as game one featured a combined three runs, 13 hits and four errors. Game two consisted of 23 combined runs, 29 hits and 10 errors.

Katie McDonald (York, Pa./West York Area) and Lisa Sweeney got the decisions in the circle in both games. McDonald pitched her seventh complete game of the season for the Bison in game one, but got the loss after Lehigh touched her for two singles and a pair of walks to score the winning run in the bottom of the eighth. She then allowed two hits and struck out two in 2.1 innings of relief in game two to improve to 7-10 this season.

Sweeney, who leads the Patriot League in a number of pitching and hitting categories, is now 15-3. She pitched a complete-game, four-hitter in game one. She relieved starter Tiffany Curtis in the sixth inning of game two and yielded eight hits and eight runs, including all seven in the eighth inning, in 2.2 innings of work.

Bucknell did much of its scoring late in game two, plating five runs in the sixth to take a late 8-7 advantage. However, the Mountain Hawks evened the score with an unearned run on an RBI single by Taryn Hanley that knocked reliever Heather Haskin (Noblesville, Ind./Thomas Scecina) from the game in favor of McDonald, in the bottom half of the inning.

In that deciding eighth inning, the Bison sent 12 hitters to the plate with a single through the right side by Lauren Fry (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield) getting things started. After a popout to the catcher on an attempted sacrifice bunt by Erin Curatola (River Edge, N.J./River Dell), seven straight Bison reached base, six on hits. The big hit in the frame was a three-run triple by Ashley Beans (Hanover, Pa./Hanover), who was 4-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored in the game. Her average jumped from .208 to .250 thanks to a 5-for-8 performance in the doubleheader that also featured her second career home run.

Bucknell's bats were strong throughout the game as it posted at least two hits in five of the eight innings. Six players posted multiple-hit games with Elyse Colmenero (Fresno, Calif./Central) equaling Beans for team-high honors with four hits of her own. Ashley Carlson (Fairless Hills, Pa./Pennsbury), who had two hits in each game and extended her hitting streak to five games, Fry, Cassie Lloyd (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg) and Jessie Snyder (Tacoma, Wash./Stadium) each registered two hits in the nightcap to contribute to Bucknell's highest hit total since registering 21 in an 18-inning 4-3 victory over Army in the 1993 Patriot League Tournament.

Lehigh, which had 11 hits in the game, had a big inning of its own when seven runners crossed the plate in the second inning. After back-to-back two-out hits in the first inning by Sweeney and Alisha Gonzales, Bison starter Christie Wiest (Centre Hall, Pa./Penns Valley) allowed the first eight Mountain Hawks in the second inning to reach base via two walks, two errors, three singles and a double. A two-RBI single by Gonzales knocked Wiest from the game after 1.0+ innings. Haskin relieved her and retired the next three hitters without allowing another run.

Haskin proceeded to retire the first 10 hitters she faced and did not allow another run until that unearned one in the sixth that evened the score. Overall, she went 4.2 innings and yielded three hits and one walk while striking out one.

Game one was much a much less offensive affair with the teams plating just three runs. Sweeney knocked home Lehigh's first run with a one-out single in the first off McDonald.

The Bison, who had just one hit in the first six innings, that being a single by Carlson with two outs in the sixth, evened the score in the top of the seventh thanks to a pair of errors. Curatola reached on an error by the shortstop, Alex Cueva, and pinch runner Lauren Trosch (Reisterstown, Md./McDonogh) later scored on a two-out single by Colmenero.

Bucknell loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the eighth, but Curatola grounded out to third to end the rally.

In the bottom of the eighth, Hanley led off with a walk and later scored the game-winning run on a bases-loaded single with none out by Carly Potock.

By playing a pair of extra-inning contests Saturday, Bucknell has now played seven extra-inning games this season. It is its most since at least 2001. The Bison are 3-4 in those games.

Bucknell's victory Saturday also brought its win total to 15, equaling its figure from all of last year. The Bison last won more than 16 games in 2001 when they posted 19 victories.

Bucknell and Lehigh will square off in another doubleheader on Sunday with first pitch of game one slated for 12 p.m. The Bison have not defeated the Mountain Hawks twice in one season since 1999.