March 30, 2009

Center Valley, Pa.--After one weekend of Patriot League play, Lehigh finds itself alone at the top of the standings. The Mountain Hawks took three of four games from Colgate, making Lehigh the only team with a winning League record. The rest of the Patriot League's weekend series finished as splits.

Patriot League Softball Release 3.30.09

Patriot League Player of the Week (Mar. 23-29)

Lisa Sweeney, Lehigh Sr., P,/UT, Lumberton, N.J. With three home runs last week, Sweeney became Lehigh's career home run leader. She hit one home run on Friday in the Mountain Hawks' 6-3 loss at Colgate. She belted two more homers in Lehigh's 11-9 win against the Raiders, including the go-ahead blast in the 10th inning. In six games last week, Sweeney batted .500 with a .958 clugging percentage. She hit three home runs and drove in eight runs.

Patriot League Pitcher of the Week (Mar. 23-29)

Katie McDonald, Bucknell Sr., P, York, Pa. McDonald earned the win in each of Bucknell's victories last week. She moved into sixth place in Bucknell history for career wins and and sixth place for career strikeouts. She recorded a career-high six strikeouts in the Bison's win against Holy Cross on Saturday. For the week, McDonald finished 2-0 with a 2.42 ERA in 17.1 innings pitched. She struck out 12 while walking six.

Patriot League Rookie of the Week (Mar. 23-29)

Audra Wood, Lehigh Fr., OF, Bellaire, Texas Wood hit safely in all six of Lehigh's games last week. She recorded four multi-hit games and scored at least twice in three contests. She delivered three-extra base hits, the first of her career. She also produced her first RBI of the season in Lehigh' 9-4 win over Colgate on Saturday. Wood scored four runs, including the go-ahead run, in the Mountain Hawks' 10-7 win against Penn. She finished the week batting .500 with nine runs and five stolen bases.

Honorable Mention Performances Last Week

Erin McClain, Army Jr., C, Ventura, Calif. Hit .435 in eight games with six RBI. Had three multi-hit games. Has hit safely in eight of last nine games.

Kristin Frick, Bucknell Sr., 2B, West Chester, Pa. Batted. 556 with four runs and three RBI in four games. Hit first career home run in Bucknell's 11-3 win over Holy Cross on Saturday.

Nicole Siedhof, Colgate So, C/3B, Canton, Pa. Hit two home runs in Colgate's 6-3 win against Lehigh. Batted .429 with 2 RBI in the Raiders' four-game series against the Mountain Hawks.

Amanda Audette, Holy Cross Jr., P, New Bedford, Mass. Picked up the pitching win in the Crusaders' 7-5 victory over Bucknell. Also tossed six innings against Hartford, allowing just one earned run. Went 1-for-3 with a home run at the plate against Bucknell.

Kasey Karr, Lafayette Jr., P, Warren, Ohio Went 1-1 in four outings, including a five-inning no-hitter against Army on Friday. Struck out nine batters during the week, while walking just three.

Patriot League Notebook

Patriot League Season Gets Underway Lehigh was the only team to finish the first weekend of Patriot League play with a winning record. The Mountain Hawks won three of their four meetings with Colgate to take the early lead in the Patriot League standings. Army, Bucknell, Holy Cross and Lafayette are all tied for second. Army and Lafayette split their four-game series. Lafayette took the first two games, while Army won both of Saturday's contests. Bucknell and Holy Cross split two games on Saturday. Sunday's games were postponed until Monday due to damp weather.

On Deck Lehigh and Bucknell will play their first home series of the Patriot League season. The League-leading Mountain Hawks will host Army. After Sunday, Army will be the only team that has not hosted a home Patriot League contest. Bucknell will be at home against Lafayette. Holy Cross will be at home for the second consecutive weekend. The Crusaders will host Colgate.

No-Hitter For Karr Lafayette junior Kasey Karr became the second Patriot League pitcher to throw a no-hitter this season. Karr held Army hitless over five innings in the Leoaprds' 8-0 win on Friday. It was Lafayette's first no-hitter since the inception of the Patriot League. Karr joins Lehigh's Tiffany Curtis, who threw the third perfect game in Patriot League history in the Mountain Hawks' 1-0 win against St. Bonaventure on March 3.

All Tied Up Due to darkness, Lehigh finished the second game of its Wednesday double-header against Penn knotted up at 3-3. It marked the first time a Patriot League team has finished in a tie since Lehigh's 9-9 draw against Villanova on April 8, 2008. Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan now has five ties in his career-record.

Movin' On Up Two of last weekend's Patriot League series were moved up due to incoming weather. Lafayette's home series against Army and Colgate's home series against Lehigh were pushed to Friday and Saturday to avoid predicted storms. Bucknell and Holy Cross also fought weather. The teams' Sunday double-header was bumped to Monday due to damp conditions.

Lehigh Picked To Win 10th Patriot League Crown Lehigh was a unanimous selection to win its 10th Patriot League softball championship. The Mountain Hawks received 10 first-place votes, the most possible, in a preseason poll of the Patriot League's coaches and sports information directors. Coaches and SIDs were not allowed to vote for their own team. Lafayette received one first-place vote and was tabbed to finish second. Bucknell received the other first-place vote and was picked to finish third. Colgate, the last team to defeat Lehigh for the Patriot League crown, was fourth in the poll, followed by Army and Holy Cross.

2009 Patriot League Championship The 2009 Patriot League Softball Championship will take place Thursday-Saturday, May 7-9 at the site of the highest seed. The top four teams in the regular-season standings will advance to the Patriot League tournament. The winner of the championship will represent the Patriot League in the NCAA Tournament as its automatic qualifier. Lehigh is the defending Patriot League Champion.

Team Notebooks

Army After dropping the first two games of their four-game series at Lafayette, the Black Knights regrouped to claim a pair of wins against the Leopards on Saturday. The wins snapped a seven-game losing streak, which followed a five-game winning streak. Currently in the midst of a 16-game road trip, Army will visit Rider on Wednesday before resuming Patriot League competition against Lehigh on Saturday.

Bucknell The Bison split their first Patriot League double-header of the season. Bucknell claimed an 11-3 win in six innings at Holy Cross before falling in the second game by a 7-5 count. The Bison also split with Drexel in a non-League double-header earlier in the week. Bucknell's win against the Dragons gave head coach Heather Rokosik her 150th career win. After wrapping up their series against Holy Cross, the Bison will remain on the road for a Tuesday match-up against Towson. Bucknell will return home for a weekend series against Patriot League foe Lafayette.

Colgate The Raiders split their Friday double-header against Lehigh but dropped the final two games of the series on Saturday, leaving Colgate as the only team with a losing record in Patriot League play after one weekend. Ashley Rowe batted .455 with six runs against the Mountain Hawks, while Erin Gomez hit .571 with two doubles, two home runs and five RBI. Gomez sent the final game into extra innings when she belted a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Colgate will hit the road this weekend to take on Holy Cross.

Holy Cross The Crusaders dropped three of four contests last week, including a pair of one-run defeats against non-League foe Hartford. Holy Cross lost its Patriot League opener against Bucknell by an 11-3 margin, but rebounded to defeat the Bison in the second game, 7-5. Damp conditions pushed the final two games of the series to Monday. Sopohomore Erin Fleming hit safely in all four of the Crusaders' games last week. She scored twice and drove in a pair of runs in the Crusaders' win against Bucknell. Holy Cross will host Colgate in Patriot League action this weekend.

Lafayette The Leopards won their first two Patriot League games of the season on Friday before dropping the final two games of the series to Army. Christina Giambrone hit .375 with two home runs and five RBI during the weekend. Giambrone now leads the team with six home runs, 15 RBI and a .783 slugging percentage. She also made an acrobatic catch in the fifth inning to preserve a no-hitter for Kasey Karr. Karr's no-hitter was Lafayette's first since joining the Patriot League.

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks are the only team with a winning record in Patriot League competition after taking three of four contests at Colgate over the weekend. Reigning Patriot League Player of the Year Lisa Sweeney produced three home runs and five RBI against the Raiders. She also recorded both pitching wins on Saturday. Sweeney had two three-hit games against Colgate, including a two-home run, four-RBI effort in the series finale. Lehigh will play at Towson on Wednesday before hosting Army on Saturday.