March 17, 2008
Lehigh's Lisa Sweeney won her 11th-career Patriot League Pitcher of the Week award on Monday, including her third of the year. The League's two other weekly award winners were first-time honorees as Colgate's Amanda Eccleston was named Patriot League Player of the Week and Bucknell's Lauren Fry was tabbed the Patriot League Rookie of the Week.
Patriot League Softball Release - 3.17.08 
Player of the Week
Amanda Eccleston, Colgate
So., DH, Roseville, Calif.
Eccleston hit .750 in two games as the Raiders notched a pair of victories in their first day at the Rebel Spring Games on Sunday. The sophomore designated hitter went 3-for-3 in the 6-2 victory over Florida A&M. She scored one run and drove in another. This is the first-career Patriot League Player of the Week award for Eccleston and the first for Colgate this season.
Pitcher of the Week
Lisa Sweeney, Lehigh
Jr., Lumberton, N.J.
For the second week in a row Sweeney was named the Patriot League Pitcher of the Week. Sweeney earned a pair of shutout wins over No. 23 Maryland and Valparaiso at the Maryland Softball Classic. She gave up just nine hits over two games, including just two to Valparaiso. She struck out 22 batters and did not issue a single walk. She is now 9-0 on the year with a 0.48 ERA and 108 strikeouts. This week's Patriot League Pitcher of the Week award ties her for the most honors in League history at 11.
Rookie of the Week
Lauren Fry, Bucknell
Fr., OF, South Plainfield, N.J.
Fry batted a team-best .471 over six games for the Bison and tied for the team lead with eight hits, including one double. The freshman outfielder finished the week with three-consecutive multiple-hit games. In the doubleheader at San Diego, she had five hits in five-consecutive at-bats. She posted a career-high three hits in the first game of the twin bill. For the week she scored three runs, had one RBI and drew four walks.
Honorable Mention
Alex Cueva, Lehigh
Fr., 3B, Santa Clarita, Calif.
Hit .375 in a 4-1 week for Lehigh...Went 4-for-4 from the plate in a win over St. Peter's...Collected six hits, two runs and three RBI over five games.
Patriot League Notebook
Knocking Off Top Competition
Lehigh earned the Patriot League's first win over a ranked team this season when it defeated No. 23 Maryland at the Maryland Spring Classic. The loss was just the fourth for the Terps this season, who are currently 22-4. Lehigh went on to boast the best record at the Maryland Spring Classic, going 4-1 in the six-team tourney.
Prior to this weekend, Lehigh was the last Patriot League squad to defeat a ranked team as well, when it beat Texas A&M twice in the 2006 NCAA Tournament Regional.
Up Another Notch
With 22 strikeouts last week, Lehigh junior Lisa Sweeney moved from fifth to fourth on the Patriot League's career Ks list. Sweeney now has 491 strikeouts in her career. She needs 65 more to move up to a tie for third and 88 to tie for second. To take over first on the League's all-time list she needs to fan 120 more batters. She would then be moving past former Mountain Hawk Emily Ling (2002-05).
Freshmen Going For Three
Eight Patriot League student-athletes have notched one triple this season and of that group seven of them are freshmen. Rookies that have gone for three this year are: Army's Laura Baranek and Jill Galloway, Bucknell's Sam Rollandi, Holy Cross' Caitlin Belange, Erin Fleming and Tiffany Medwid and Lehigh's Mickey LaValley.
Softball In The Sunshine State
Both Holy Cross and Lehigh have completed their trips to the Rebel Spring Games in Florida. The Crusaders posted a 2-8 record and the Mountain Hawks went 9-1.
Three of the Patriot League's remaining four teams will compete at the Rebel Spring Games this week. Army will play in the Sunshine State from March 15-21, Colgate from March 16-21 and Lafayette from March 17-21. Bucknell is the only Patriot League team not participating in the Rebel Spring Games this season.
2008 Patriot League Championship
The 2008 Patriot League Softball Championship will take place Thursday-Saturday, May 8-10 at the site of the highest seed. The top four teams in the regular-season standings will advance to the Patriot League tourney. The winner of the championship will represent the Patriot League in the NCAA Tournament as its automatic qualifier. Colgate is the defending Patriot League Champion.
Team Notebooks
Army Army split its doubleheader versus Iona last Tuesday at home and has gone 1-3 at the Rebel Spring Games so far. The Black Knights played three games on Sunday with the first against Saint Louis at the National Training Center in Clermont, Fla., which was not a part of the Rebel Spring Games. Army's win at the Rebel Spring Games came in the third contest it played on Sunday against Columbia, 4-3. Senior right-hander Veronica Barth knocked in a pair of runs, including the game winner, along with hurling Army to the win from the mound. Freshman Laura Baranek was 6-for-6 in the two Rebel Spring Games on Sunday and 6-for-8 on the day, which included a pair of triples along with a RBI and two runs scored.
Bucknell Bucknell competed in the Loyola Marymount Tournament last week and played a doubleheader at San Diego on Sunday. While Bucknell lost all seven games last week, three were decided in the seventh inning. Freshman Lauren Fry finished the week with three consecutive multiple-hit games and led the Bison with a .471 batting average during the Spring Break trip to California. She had hits in five-consecutive at-bats in doubleheader at San Diego on Sunday. Fry and senior Erin Curatola led Bucknell with eights hits apiece last week. Senior Christie Wiest recorded four complete games, tallying 25.0 innings over four appearances. After 18 games away from home, Bucknell opens its home slate Wednesday with a doubleheader against Bloomsburg. The Bison will play their next six contests at home.
Colgate Colgate kicked off its play at the Rebel Spring Games on Sunday with a pair of wins. The Raiders defeated Florida A&M, 6-2, and Iona, 7-6, to improve to 2-2 on the season. Sophomore Amanda Eccleston hit .750 in two games and scored one run and drove in another. Freshman Lacy Ver Steeg picked up her first collegiate victory in a 6-2 win over Florida A&M, not allowing a single earned run. Sophomore Jesse McCarrick earned the Raiders other victory on the day against Iona. Colgate will remain at the Rebel Spring Games through Friday.
Holy Cross Holy Cross went 0-3 at the Hoya Invitational, facing host Georgetown, Mount St. Mary's and Seton Hall. Three Crusaders had two hits each against Mount St. Mary's with junior Natalie Cruz and sophomore Courtney Nealon each providing a RBI. Cruz added two RBI and two hits versus Seton Hall, while senior Kelly O'Neil had two hits, two runs and two RBI. Holy Cross will break until Wednesday, March 26 when it plays a doubleheader at Boston College.
Lafayette Lafayette was idle last week. The Leopards return to action on Monday at the Rebel Spring Games in Florida.
Lehigh Lehigh won the Maryland Softball Classic with a 4-1 record, which was tops in the six-team field. The Mountain Hawks defeated No. 23 Maryland, Valparaiso, Saint Peter's and Niagara during the tournament and fell only to UMBC in Lehigh's first game of the competition. The win over No. 23 Maryland was Lehigh's first over a ranked team since beating Texas A&M twice in 2006 NCAA Regional. Senior Taryn Hanley provided the game-winning RBI single in the 1-0 victory over the Terps. Junior Lisa Sweeney fired two shutouts in both of her starts, beating Valparaiso for second time this year and Maryland. She did not walk a single batter and totaled 22 strikeouts over two contests. Sophomore pitcher Tiffany Curtis went 2-1 and struck out 27 batters in 20 innings of work. Freshman Alex Cueva led Lehigh with six hits and three RBI in five games. She secured the first four-hit game of the season for Lehigh in the win over St. Peter's and drove in the first two runs of win versus Niagara.
