Colgate Softball Splits Doubleheader at Lehigh

Courtney O'Connell picked up her third victory as a Raider in the 2-1 victory over Lehigh

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BETHLEHEM, PA. (4/4/2010) – Stephanie Hartquist (Homer, N.Y.) provided the game winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning as Colgate split its doubleheader at Lehigh, Sunday afternoon as Kaufman Field. The Raiders won the second game 2-1 after falling 5-4 in the opener.

In a move made by Patriot League coaches for the 2010 season, the road team now serves as the home team on the second day of the weekend series. The Raiders scored the game winner as Hartquist lifted a one-out sacrifice fly to right to plate Amanda Zranchev (Budd Lake, N.J.) from third. The sophomore entered the weekend ranked 18th in the country in sacrifice flies.

Colgate, which moved to 18-8 overall and 1-3 in league action, posted one run in the bottom of the first. With one out, Alana Dyson (Grovetown, Ga.) singled to center before swiping second base. After moving over to third on a groundout, the freshman trotted home on a single to second by Nicole Siedhof (Canton, Pa.). The Mountain Hawks pushed across the tying run in the top of the fifth.

In her first start of the season, Lacy Ver Steeg (Elk Grove, Calif.) pitched four strong innings allowing three hits while fanning seven batters. Freshman Courtney O'Connell (Palm Harbor, Fla.) pitched the final three innings surrendering one earned run to improve to 3-2 on the season.

Emmie Dolfi (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) led the seven-hit attack with a two for three effort at the plate. Hartquist singled in the bottom of the third to successfully stretch her hitting streak to 13 games.

In the opener, the Raiders squandered a two-run lead late in the contest. Trailing 4-2 heading to the top of the sixth, the Mountain Hawks posted three runs to take the lead for good thanks in part to a two-out three-run triple by Audra Wood to right field. Alex Cueva followed with a single up the middle to provide the winning margin. Colgate was set down one-two-three in the sixth and seventh innings to finish the game.

After watching Lehigh open scoring in the second with a single run, the Raiders posted two in the bottom of the fourth as Dolfi sent a two-out double to left to score Hartquist, who got on base via a single to left and Brittany Hanrahan (Frankfort, Ill.). The lead was stretched to 4-1 the following inning as Jennifer Ortega (Aberdeen, N.J.) blasted a two-run homer to center scoring Dyson. Colgate finished with six hits in the loss, all by six different batters.

Michelle Hollebeke (North Reading, Mass.) was saddled with the loss and fell to 9-5 overall. The sophomore allowed four earned runs and went the distance on an eight-hitter.

Colgate returns to action Thursday afternoon as it opens its home slate by hosting a non-conference doubleheader versus Marist. The first game gets underway at the Eaton Street Field at 3 p.m. The schools previously met twice in Florida with each capturing a victory.

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