May 8, 2008
2008 Patriot League Softball Championship Page
Bethlehem, Pa. - Top-seeded Lehigh needed only five innings to notch an 8-0 win over No. 4 Army on the first day of 2008 Patriot League Softball Tournament at Kaufman Field. The second game of the day went 10 innings, with No. 3 Bucknell prevailing over No. 2 Lafayette, 1-0.
Lehigh (36-14-1, 15-5 PL) put up five of its eight runs in the bottom of the second inning, coming up with six hits in the frame. Megan Conrad drove in the first run of the game with a RBI single, scoring Kristyn Kubiak, followed by a single from Kate Marvel to score Taryn Hanley. Alex Cueva tacked on two more runs with a single down the leftfield line. Alisha Gonzales batted in the final run of the inning to allow Cueva to cross the plate.
A Conrad ground out in the third inning drove in Whitney Lowe to make it a 6-0 lead for the Mountain Hawks.
Lehigh added on its two final runs in the bottom of the fourth inning both via sacrifice flies. Starting pitcher Lisa Sweeney collected a RBI by flying out to centerfield to score Carly Potock and Lowe flew out to leftfield to allow Cueva to score her second run of the contest.
Army (13-38, 8-12 PL) went down in order in the top of the fifth to give Lehigh the 8-0 victory by virtue of the mercy rule. The Black Knights' lone hit in the game came in the top of the third with Mary Ann Kearney coming up with a single.
Cueva led Lehigh with two RBI and two runs scored, while going 2-for-3 from the plate. Potock, Sweeney and Lowe each collected a pair of hits as well. Conrad had two RBI and crossed the plate once.
Sweeney improved to 23-3 on the year with the victory. She struck out nine batters and did not give up any walks, while limiting the Black Knights to a single hit.
Army's Veronica Barth suffered the loss after pitching the first two innings. Jessie Muckelroy finished out the game in the circle for the Black Knights.
The second game of the day was decided by a wild pitch in the top of the 10th, which allowed Sam Rollandi to score for the Bison and win the game 1-0. Rollandi pinch hit for Cassie Lloyd and drew a walk. Kristin Frick then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Rollandi to second and a ground out pushed her over to third. Lafayette pitcher Ali Henry then threw a wild pitch which allowed Rollandi to cross the plate for the only run of the game.
Bucknell hurler Christie Wiest took a no-hitter into the bottom of the sixth until Lafayette's Kristin Garganio singled and Christina Giambrone doubled. The Leopards left two on base in that inning as well as in the bottom of the 10th, unable to extend the game.
Lauren Fry and Jessie Snyder led Bucknell (23-27, 13-7 PL) with two hits a piece. Wiest moved to 13-12 on the year and struck out seven batters.
For Lafayette (24-23, 13-7 PL), Giambrone was the only player with multiple hits, going 2-for-4. Henry was saddled with the loss, but reached double-digit Ks with 10 strikeouts.
Patriot League Tournament play continues on Friday with Lehigh and Bucknell playing at 11 a.m. and Army taking on Lafayette at 1:30 p.m. The final game of the day will start at 4 p.m. pitting the winner of the Army-Lafayette game against the loser of the Lehigh-Bucknell contest.
Results and box scores for this weekend's competition can be found on the Patriot League web site on the main page as well as on the Softball Championship Page which can be accessed by clicking here.
2008 Patriot League Softball Tournament Schedule
Thursday, May 8
Game 1: No. 1 Lehigh 8, vs. No. 4 Army 0 (5 inn.)
Game 2: No. 3 Bucknell 1, vs. No. 2 Lafayette 0 (10 inn.)
Friday, May 9
Game 3: Lehigh vs. Bucknell, 11 a.m.
Game 4: Army vs. Lafayette, 1:30 p.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3, 4 p.m.
Saturday, May 10
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5, Noon
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6, 2:30 p.m. (if necessary)
