EASTON, Pa. – Lafayette couldn't get the bats going on Saturday on the opening weekend of Patriot League play against, dropping 6-0 and 4-1 finals to Lehigh at Metzgar Fields.
In the opener, the Leopards loaded the bases in first and third innings but could not push across a run. In the third,
Maddie Wensel missed a bases-clearing double down the line by about two feet, as the wind pushed it foul. Lehigh starter Parker Boyd struck out Wensel and then got
Addison Goldwait to pop out to end the inning.
Lehigh (7-14, 2-0) took the early lead in the top of the third inning. Jen Stoll's two-out single scored Payton Alsobrooks (3-for-4, 3 RBI) who had reached on an infield single. In the fourth, Alsobrooks gave the Mountain Hawks some breathing room with a three-run home run. Lehigh added two more runs in the sixth to close out game one.
Boyd struck out seven while surrendering two hits over six innings in the win.
Kinzi Van Wyk took the decision for the Leopards, allowing six runs on 12 hits. The pitching staffs combined for 13 walks on a windy day with a shifting strike zone.
In game two, the Leopards got on the scoreboard first, manufacturing a run in the bottom of the opening inning. With two outs in the inning,
Brooke Wensel was hit with a pitch. The Leopards loaded the bases following an error and a walk.
Hannah Lee came to the plate, running the count full before fouling off two pitches and finally drawing the walk for the 1-0 lead.
In the top of the second, Addie Kittel delivered a solo home run to knot the game at 1-1 before Leopard starter
Stacy Gordon pitched her way out of a bases-loaded jam.
Kittel led off the top of the fourth with a double and later scored on an RBI-groundout as Lehigh took its first lead of the game. The visitors padded that lead in the top of the fifth. With a runner aboard via an error, Jaelynn Chesson lifted a Gordon offering over the wall in right centerfield as Lehigh moved its lead to 4-1.
Lehigh starter Gabriella Nori had retired 15 straight batters from the second through sixth innings and had not allowed a hit.
Erin Scott came to the batter's box with one two outs in the sixth and smashed a single to left field to break up the no-hit bid. Nori finished the game, allowing one unearned run on one hit with 12 strikeouts. Gordon took the loss, giving up four runs (two earned) on six hits with six strikeouts.
Lafayette (2-18, 0-2) and Lehigh close out the series on Sunday with the first pitch slated for 12:05 p.m.
