HAMILTON – Prior to Sunday's regular season finale, Colgate honored two special senior players as they played in their final game at Eaton Street Field.
Alyssa Chaulklin and
Kate Zucker were celebrated for their four years of devotion and dedication to the Raider softball program.
Unfortunately, Colgate fell in the game 8-1 to first-place Lehigh.
Tara Grennan and
Holly Geranen both tallied a hit on the day to lead the Raiders.
Brigit Ieuter pitched the majority of the game after coming for relief in the first. She finished the day allowing seven hits and three runs, one of which was earned, during her 6.2 innings of work.
Lehigh jumped out to the early 5-0 lead after the first half inning. Colgate grabbed one run back in the bottom half but three more runs from the Mountain Hawks in the seventh ultimately secured them the victory.
Colgate, the No. 3 seed, next faces Bucknell in its first game of the Patriot League Tournament on Thursday at 2:35 p.m. at Lehigh's Leadership Park. The Bison are the No. 2 seed and have won 14 of their last 15 games heading into the tournament.
Bottom Line• Lehigh 8, Colgate 1
Won-Lost Records• Lehigh improves to 36-7 on the year and closes out Patriot League play with a mark of 16-2.
• Colgate dips to 16-19 and 9-9, respectively.
Key Raider Info• Grennan and Geranen led the Raiders going 1-for-2 and 1-for-3, respectively.
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Gillian Murray also tallied the Raiders' only run in the game.
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Kira Griswold got the starting nod but allowed five runs on five hits in the opening inning.
• Ieuter came in for relief pitching 6.2 innings, giving up seven hits and three runs, one of which was earned, during her time in the circle.
• Closing out the game was
Megan Carnase who came in to grab the final out of the game.
Facts & Figures• The Raiders earned one run on two hits.
• Colgate stranded seven base runners throughout the game.
• Ieuter fanned one batter while in the circle.
Lehigh's Numbers• Alexis Wantanabe finished the day going 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI.
• Carissa Zito added two hits, while seven other Mountain Hawk players tallied one hit each.
• Christine Campbell allowed just two hits and one run during her seven complete innings of work.
• The sophomore also recorded three strikeouts.
Patriot League Tournament• No. 3 seeded Colgate will face No. 2 Bucknell on Thursday at 2:35 p.m.
• The Patriot League Tournament Game Central can be found
HERE.
• The two other teams joining them in the post season are the hosts of the tournament, Lehigh, and No. 4 seeded Army West Point, who are set to kick off the post season in the opening game at 12:05 p.m.
• It will be a double elimination tournament with two games on Thursday followed by three games on Friday and two more, if necessary, on Saturday.
• Here are the series results in head-to-head meetings between the four playoff teams:
Army West Point: Bucknell (0-3), Colgate (0-3), Lehigh (1-2)
Bucknell: Army West Point (3-0), Colgate (1-2), Lehigh (0-3)
Colgate: Army West Point (3-0), Bucknell (2-1), Lehigh (0-3)
Lehigh: Army West Point (2-1), Bucknell (3-0), Colgate (3-0)
Senior Day• Colgate celebrated two senior student-athletes prior to the start of Sunday's contest.
• Chaulklin has seen action in 96 games for Colgate, while earning 84 starts in the catcher position. She has notched nine runs, 21 hits and six doubles, while reeling in five RBIs. Chaulklin has compiled 305 putouts with 58 assists throughout her career.
• Zucker is a utility player that has seen action all over the infield earning 72 starts in 101 appearances for the Maroon and White. She has also tallied 12 hits and 18 runs throughout her career.
• Zucker has recorded five doubles, nine RBIs and her lone career homer run gave Colgate to go-ahead run in a rivalry game with Cornell on April 8, 2014. This senior has notched 209 putouts to go along with her 147 assists as well.
• Chaulklin will graduate in May with a degree in art and art history, while Zucker will earn her degree in religion.
Straight From The Source•
Colgate head coach Melissa Finley: (on her thoughts on the finale of the regular season) "It flies by very quickly. We finished at .500 in conference play. We came on strong in the beginning and kind of tapered off a little bit at the end but that happens in any sport, where you go through some ups and downs. We've had some really high highs and I want us to focus on those moving forward into the tournament."
(on what this senior class has meant to her, the team and the program) "Not only are they great athletes and good people, they are pretty funny and make me laugh on a regular basis. I'm definitely going to miss their energy and enthusiasm moving forward."
(on her expectations heading into post season play on Thursday) "In post season anything can happen. We're going to go out and battle, give our best and see what shakes out. Knowing we've had success against Bucknell earlier on in the year and that if we play good softball we will give ourselves an opportunity to win."
Up Next• Colgate continues its season in the Patriot League Tournament, which begins on Thursday at Lehigh.
• The Raiders are set to face Bucknell for their first game of the double elimination tournament at 2:35 p.m. The tournament will continue with three games on Friday and two more, if necessary, on Saturday.
• Colgate is 2-1 against Bucknell so far this season.
• Live stats and video will be available at the start of the games.
Game Archive
