April 13, 2008

Game 1 Box Score: Lehigh 3, Bucknell 0
Game 2 Box Score: Lehigh 5, Bucknell 4

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - One day after winning its first regular-season game against Lehigh since 2001, the Bucknell softball team played a pair of tight contests against the Mountain Hawks, but was swept by scores of 3-0 and 5-4 Sunday afternoon.

Highlighting the doubleheader was a three-run, seventh-inning comeback by the Bison in game two that tied the score at 4-4, but Lehigh won the game in the bottom of the seventh on a one-out RBI single by Taryn Hanley. Bucknell had managed just one run and nine hits in the 15 innings prior to the game-tying seventh inning.

In that down-to-the-wire game two, Bucknell (15-24, 6-6 PL) starter Katie McDonald (York, Pa./West York Area) scattered 14 hits and limited Lehigh (28-10-1, 9-3 PL) to no more than one run in any inning. However, the Mountain Hawks plated single runs in the first, second, fourth, fifth and seventh frames. Six Lehigh hitters finished the game with two hits, while Kate Marvel led the way with a pair of runs batted in.

The Bison cut Lehigh's lead to 3-1 with their first run of the day in the top of the fifth. Erin Curatola (River Edge, N.J./River Dell) singled home Lauren Trosch (Reisterstown, Md./McDonogh), who had pinch run for Alison Ford (Suison, Calif./Fairfield). It was the team-high 28th RBI of the season for Curatola, who is just seven shy of the program single-season record shared by Angie Stackhouse and Lauren Litts.

A leadoff walk by Lauren Fry (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield) got the rally going in the seventh inning. She later scored on a one-out double by Elyse Colmenero (Fresno, Calif./Central), who has hit in 14 of the last 15 games, including both contests on Sunday. A two-out, two-run double by Ashley Beans (Hanover, Pa./Hanover) off reliever Lisa Sweeney tied the score at 4-4.

Lehigh then scored the winning run in the bottom of the inning. Alisha Gonzales singled up the middle to lead off the inning. She advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and moved to third when Brooke Lewis singled. Hanley then knocked Gonzales home with a single to right.

McDonald (7-11) finished the game allowing three walks and five runs, all of which were earned. Sweeney, who pitched a complete game, three-hitter in game one, picked up the win in 0.1 innings of relief to improve to 17-3 on the season. Tiffany Curtis pitched the first 6.2 innings and got the no-decision after yielding eight hits, four walks, four runs and striking out five.

In game one, three Bucknell freshmen - Fry, Colmenero and Ford - were the only Bison to record hits against Sweeney as the team was shut out for the first time since March 16 at San Diego. Ford's two-out triple in the second marked one of just two times in the game Bucknell had a runner reach as far as second base.

Christie Wiest (Centre Hall, Pa./Penns Valley) (8-11) pitched well, allowing just three runs and six hits while striking out three in her 6.0 innings of work. However, Lehigh scored one run in the third on a sacrifice fly by Gonzales and two more in the fifth when Sweeney hit her league-high sixth home run of the season.

Bucknell, which remains second in the Patriot League with six league wins, will now play its final 10 games of the regular season at home. The Bison begin that stretch Wednesday, April 16, with a non-league doubleheader against Towson. First pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m.