May 5, 2008
Lafayette took home two Patriot League softball weekly awards and Colgate one after the final week of regular-season competition. Lafayette's Kasey Karr was named the Patriot League Pitcher of the Week, while teammate Stacey Kushner was tabbed the Patriot League Rookie of the Week. Colgate's Tiana Tyeskey was honored as the Patriot League Player of the Week.
Patriot League Softball Release - 5.5.08 
Player of the Week
Tiana Tyeskey, Colgate
Jr., OF, Granite Bay, Calif.
Tyeskey batted .500 in the Raiders' series split with Holy Cross last week. The junior outfielder blasted three solo home runs, for three RBI on the week, including two in Colgate's 3-2 victory in game one of the series. She also scored five runs over four games and added a double and drew two walks. This is Tyeskey's first-career Patriot League Player of the Week award.
Pitcher of the Week
Kasey Karr, Lafayette
So., Warren, Ohio
Karr earned a 9-2 victory over St. Peter's in non-League action last week, striking out four batters and not giving up a single walk. The win was the 10th for Karr this season and marked her 13th complete game of the 2008 campaign. She also pitched three innings in Lafayette's first game of the doubleheader and picked up three Ks. This is Karr's second Patriot League Pitcher of the Week award this year and third in her career.
Rookie of the Week
Stacey Kushner, Lafayette
Fr., C, Norristown, Pa.
Kushner batted .429 in Lafayette's doubleheader versus non-League opponent St. Peter's. In the Leopards' 9-2 victory she came up with two RBI and a run scored. She batted in a run with a single in the third inning and came up with a RBI double in the fifth frame. This award marks the second for Kushner this season.
Patriot League Notebook
Lehigh To Host 2008 Patriot League Tournament
Lehigh will host the Patriot League Tournament at Kaufman Field for the seventh-straight year Thursday-Saturday, May 8-10 after compiling a 14-6 Patriot League record. Lafayette will serve as the No. 2 seed with a 13-7 League mark and Bucknell will compete as the No. 3 seed also with a 13-7 record in League contests. Army earned the last spot in the tournament as the No. 4 seed with an 8-12 mark in League play.
Tournament play for the double-elimination competition will begin Thursday, May 8 with top-seeded Lehigh taking on No. 4 Army at 2 p.m., followed by No. 2 Lafayette versus No. 3 Bucknell at 4 p.m. On Friday, May 9 three games will be played at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. The tourney will conclude on Saturday, May 10 with either one or two games, depending if the second game is necessary. The first game on Saturday will begin at Noon with the second one, if needed, will start approximately at 2:30 p.m.
Only Two Locations
The Patriot League Softball Tournament has only ever been held at two locations - Patriots Park in Allentown, Pa. and Lehigh's Kaufman Field in Bethlehem, Pa. The tourney was held at Patriots Park from 1991-2001 and on Lehigh's campus at Kaufman Field from 2002 to the present.
Seeding And Tournament Berths
Lafayette earned the higher seed over Bucknell, both of which have a 13-7 Patriot League record, by winning two games against Lehigh (the top seed), while Bucknell only won one contest versus the Mountain Hawks.
The 2008 Patriot League Softball Tournament Field became fully set last Thursday when the Colgate-Holy Cross series finished out. With Colgate's two losses to Holy Cross it allowed Army to retain the fourth-place spot in the standings and earn the No. 4 seed.
Championship Titles
Lehigh leads the way with eight Patriot League Tournament titles, including three in the last four years. Army is next with four championship wins. Colgate won their third-ever championship title last year as the No. 2 seed. Bucknell and Holy Cross have each been crowned champion once.
Tourney Appearances
Lehigh became the only team in League history to appear in all 18 Patriot League Tournament this year. Army is next with 15 tourney appearances, followed by Bucknell with 12 and Lafayette with 11. From 1991-1997 and again in just 2000, the Patriot League Tournament was a full-field event. All other years just the top four teams as determined by the regular-season standings qualified for tournament play.
Two Triple Crowns
Heading into this week's tournament play, Lehigh junior Lisa Sweeney is leading the Patriot League in both the batting and pitching triple crown categories. Sweeney is first in overall batting average (.407), RBI (45) and home runs (13), as well as ERA (1.44), wins (22) and strikeouts (260). Sweeney is the only player in the country to be leading her conference in both the batting and pitching triple crown categories.
Single-Season Marks
Lehigh's Lisa Sweeney became the Patriot League's single-season leader this year in both strikeouts, now with 260, and in walks drawn as a batter with 35. She also ranks in the top five on other single-season lists, including home runs (tied-3rd, 13), RBI (3rd, 45) and wins (2nd, 22). She currently owns the top spot for single-season victories with 26 in 2006.
Lafayette's Christina Giambrone is tied for fifth in runs scored on the Patriot League's single-season chart with 43 and Sweeney is tied for seventh with 41.
Team Notebooks
Army Army will play in its ninth-straight and 15th overall Patriot League Tournament. The Black Knights will compete as the No. 4 seed and face No. 1 Lehigh in the first game of the tourney on Thursday. Army posted an 8-12 Patriot League mark this season.
Bucknell Bucknell is currently on a six-game winning streak as it heads into the Patriot League Tournament as the No. 3 seed. The Bison went 13-7 in League play this year to tie Lafayette in the standings. Lafayette won the tiebreaker with Bucknell because the Leopards went 2-2 versus Lehigh (the top seed) during the regular season and the Bison went 1-3. This is Bucknell's first tournament appearance since 2005 and 12th overall.
Colgate Colgate will miss the Patriot League Tournament for the first time in League history after going 7-13 this year. The Raiders headed into their last doubleheader of the season against Holy Cross last Thursday with a chance to clinch a tourney berth and move past Army in the standings but fell twice to the Crusaders. Colgate had won both games against Holy Cross last Wednesday to keep the search for a berth alive. During the series versus Holy Cross, junior Tiana Tyeskey hit .500 with three home runs, three RBI and five runs scored. Tyeskey hit two home runs in the opening game of the series (a 3-2 win for the Raiders).
Holy Cross Holy Cross went 2-2 versus Colgate in its last Patriot League regular-season series of the year. The Crusaders dropped the first two games on Wednesday, then came up with two victories over Colgate on Thursday to take away the Raiders hope of a Patriot League Tournament berth.
Lafayette Lafayette is making its third-straight appearance in the Patriot League Tournament and 11th all-time. The Leopards will play as the No. 2 seed and face No. 3 Bucknell in its first game of the tournament. The Leopards' 24 victories is a single-season best, surpassing the program's previous mark of 21 that the team set last season. Lafayette split with St. Peter's last week in non-League action. Sophomore Kasey Karr earned the 9-2 victory over St. Peter's with a complete-game effort and pitched three innings in the loss. She led both teams with three RBI at the plate over the course of the doubleheader. Freshman Stacey Kushner batted .429 with two RBI.
Lehigh Lehigh will play in the Patriot League Tournament as the No. 1 seed for the 10th-straight year and will host the tournament in Bethlehem, Pa. for the seventh year in a row. Lehigh has now had eight-straight years with at least 35 victories and went 14-6 in League play this season.
