BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Timely hits and a stellar pitching performance from first-year
Bella Crow led Colgate to an 8-1 win in the nightcap of a doubleheader at preseason Patriot League favorite Lehigh Sunday afternoon. The victory helped the Raiders bounce back from a tough 9-1 loss in the first game of the league-opening series at Lehigh's Leadership Park.
Crow hurled a two-hit, complete-game gem to lead the Raiders to the 8-1 victory. Colgate put up six runs in the third before adding single runs in the fifth and seventh innings of the win. Sophomore
Jordan Miller led the Colgate bats with three RBI in the game-two victory.
Both teams were rendered hitless in the first two innings of the nightcap. Colgate got on the board first in the top of the third. Sophomore
Blake Brackett reached on a one-out throwing error before classmate
Virginia Irby smoked an RBI triple to the right field fence. Sophomore
Nicole Rounsavill then laid down a bunt and Irby ran home to execute a squeeze play and plate the second run of the inning. Junior
Meghan Romero and Miller followed with clutch two-run doubles to give the Raiders a 6-0 lead through two and a half frames.

Miller smacked another RBI double in the fifth to extend Colgate's lead to 7-0. Crow cruised through the first four frames, keeping the Mountain Hawks hitless until the top of the fifth.
Lehigh scored one unearned run in the bottom of the seventh, but Crow stayed in control to lock up the 8-1 win and send Colgate home with a Sunday split.
After a scoreless first inning in the day's opener, the Mountain Hawks took an early lead in the bottom of the second. An RBI single up the middle and three-run triple plated four unearned runs to put Lehigh in front 4-0. The Mountain Hawks then added two more unearned runs in the following frame before tacking on a single tally in the fourth to pull ahead 7-0 through four frames.

The Raiders scattered two hits in the opening five innings and were finally able to break through in the sixth. Pinch hitter
Cayman Coughlin drew a two-out walk before senior
Holly Geranen poked an RBI double to right field to put the Raiders on the board and pull Colgate within 7-1. The Mountain Hawks then used a two-run single up the middle from Carolyn Wright to walk off with a 9-1 win in the bottom of the sixth.
BOTTOM LINES
- Lehigh 9, Colgate 1 (6 innings)
- Colgate 8, Lehigh 1
WON-LOST RECORDS
- Colgate is now 4-19 on the season and 1-1 in Patriot League play.
- Lehigh moves to 5-16 overall and 1-1 in league action.
KEY RAIDER INFO
- Colgate's six-run third inning in the nightcap was the Raiders' highest scoring frame of the season.
- The Raiders' five extra-base hits in game two were a season high. Colgate knocked four doubles and one triple.
- Crow finished with a line of one unearned run on two hits with three strikeouts in her complete seven-inning effort.
- Miller's two doubles in the game two victory marked her first game this year with multiple extra-base hits.
- Miller went 3-for-5 at the plate in the two games combined.
- Jorth put together a 3-for-6 showing in the twin bill.
- The Raiders finished the day with an 11-10 hit advantage, including an 8-2 edge in the second game.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach
Marissa Lamison-Myers
- On the win in game two: "The team wanted to play for something, so we had them play for something. We incorporated what we do in practice in the second game and they really responded."
- On Bella Crow: "Bella started off slow in the beginning of the season and picked it up towards the end of spring break. I think she surprised a lot of people and she was really resilient today."
- On her message to the team heading into Monday's rubber game: "We're going to do what we did in the second game today and continue to fight hard. We're a scrappy team and that's what I want to continue to do tomorrow."
UP NEXT
- The Colgate-Lehigh rubber match is slated for a 1 p.m. start Monday from Lehigh's Leadership Park.