EASTON, Pa. – It took 10 innings to settle Lafayette softball's series finale vs. Lehigh on Sunday at Metzgar Fields. The teams combined for four runs through the first seven innings in a pitchers' duel before Lehigh broke open the game with a six-run 10^th inning in a 10-4 final.
 
Senior Mary Grace O'Neill put together a 3-for-4 day at the plate while scoring two runs and adding a stolen base.
 
O'Neill generated her own run in the bottom of the first inning. She smoked a double to left centerfield and followed with a steal of third. With two outs in the inning, Madison Finnerty threw a pitch in the dirt and O'Neill beat the throw at the plate for the 1-0 lead.
 
Leopard starter Marisa Powell (4 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 3 K) went unscathed until the fourth inning. The Mountain Hawks started the inning with two hits before Powell got a flyout. A walk loaded the bases and two wild pitches brought home Lehigh's first two runs of the game. Powell recorded the final two outs via strikeouts, as Lehigh led 2-1.
 
The Leopards were down to their last at-bat, heading into the seventh. With one out, Regan Dillon crushed a Finnerty offering over the wall in left field. Her third home run of the season tied the game at 2-2 and sent the contest to extra innings.
 
In the eighth, Lehigh used four hits to score a pair of runs via Sydney Parlett and Holly Lovett RBI-singles off Lafayette reliever Makayla Lecky (3.2 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 K). Lehigh led 4-2.
 
The Leopards would not back down in the last of the eighth. Olivia Catalina and O'Neill singled. With two outs in the inning, Katie Harrington singled to right to score one run on the hit and another via a throwing error to knot the game at 4-4. The Leopards and many of their fans thought they had the game won when Emma Ahlborn lifted a ball to right centerfield. Lehigh's centerfielder made a diving grab that looked like as if it may have been dropped when she hit the ground. The umpires conferred and called it a catch. The game was tied at 4-4.
 
After a scoreless ninth inning, Lehigh belted out six hits that led to six runs in the 10^th inning in the 10-4 final.
Parker Rowden, who threw the final 2.1 innings, was dealt the loss, allowing six runs on seven hits with a strikeout.
 
Finnerty went the distance for Lehigh, giving up three earned runs on eight hits with 12 strikeouts in 10 innings.
Lafayette will continue Patriot League play April 5-6 with a three-game series at Colgate.