BU to Host Lehigh in Doubleheader Wednesday Afternoon
April 26, 2016 | Softball
| BU Softball (19-20, 5-4 PL) vs. Lehigh (30-11, 8-1 PL) |
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| Date | Wednesday, April 26 - 1 p.m. (DOUBLEHEADER) |
| Venue | BU Softball Field - Boston, Mass. |
| Live Stats | Game 1 | Game 2 |
| Game 1 Media | Patriot League Network |
| Game 2 Media | WTBU | Periscope (link to watch will appear on @BostonUSoftball) |
| Social Media |
@BUGameDay | @BostonUSoftball | Instagram |
BOSTON - Riding a season-high six-game win streak, the Boston University softball team will host defending Patriot League champion Lehigh on Wednesday with the doubleheader slated to begin at 1 p.m.
The teams originally squared off back on April 2, but heavy rains in the first inning forced the postponement of the entire three-game series. They were then slated to face off on Tuesday with the rubber game set for Wednesday, but inclement weather pushed the doubleheader back a day. The third game, if necessary, will be made up at a date to be determined.
Coming off a three-game home sweep over Lafayette, the Terriers (19-20, 5-4 PL) are currently fourth in the conference standings, while the Mountain Hawks (30-11, 8-1 PL) currently have a hold of the top spot. Only four of the seven PL teams will compete in the upcoming conference tournament.
TERRIER TIDBITS
• Senior Melanie Russell (7-7, 2.62 ERA) was named NFCA Co-National Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday after pitching 22.2 scoreless innings last week with 32 strikeouts and zero walks ... She earned the program's first weekly award from the NFCA since April Setterlund ('11) was named National Player of the Week in 2010.
• BU is 7-2 at home and 5-1 in conference home games after sweeping the Leopards by a combined score of 15-1 over the weekend ... They previously went 2-1 against Bucknell a week prior, which featured BU's first-ever run-rule victory over the Bison.
• The Terriers opened conference play at Army with three losses, but two of them were by one run apiece.
• Sophomore Emma Wong (.314) is batting a team-high .500 at home with a team-high 11 RBIs and six runs scored ... Junior Brittany Younan (.377) leads the Terriers in hitting during the win streak at .435 with six RBIs and three runs scored.
• Junior Moriah Connolly (.343) leads the Terriers with 20 stolen bases ... Junior Gabi Martinez (.269) owns a team-high three homers, while freshman Alex Heinen (.284) has team-high seven doubles.
• Senior Lauren Hynes (10-10, 2.50 ERA) owns a team-high 100 strikeouts in 123.1 innings and has pitched seven complete games.
SCOUTING LEHIGH
• The Mountain Hawks are 6-6 in true road games this season and are coming off last Saturday's home doubleheader split against UMBC.
• Lehigh won its first three conference games at home against Lafayette by a combined score of 16-6 but one of the contests went nine innings (5-4) ... The Mountain Hawks followed with a sweep vs. Colgate by a combined score of 23-1 and then had a split at Army West Point (8-3, 0-1, 6-4).
• The Mountain Hawks are batting .305 while holding opponents to .244 ... Seven players are batting over .300 ... Former PL Player of the Year Morgan Decker leads the way with an impressive .427 with 16 doubles, six homers and 34 RBIs after batting .336 a year prior.
• Vicky Lattanzio (.315) owns 30 RBIs with nine doubles and 28 walks to increase on-base percentage to .496.
• Lehigh was relied primarily on two pitchers ... PL Preseason Pitcher of the Year Christine Campbell (17-6, 2.48 ERA) has 82 strikeouts against 42 walks in 141.1 innings with hitters batting .235 ... Emily Sorem (12-5, 2.59 ERA) has only hit six batters compared to Campbell's 26 HBPs.
SERIES HISTORY
• BU leads the all-time series, 5-4, but Lehigh won all three games at home last season by a combined score of 23-2 en route to the conference title.
• The Terriers went 2-1 at home in 2014 ... They bounced back from a 3-0 loss with two victories, 6-4 and 8-4.
• Despite both teams owning a conference crown over the last two years, they have yet to face off in the PL tournament ... Lehigh was upset twice as the No. 1 seed in 2014, and BU was just left out of the four-team event in 2015.
• BU won the first two-ever meetings in the 1996 NCAA Play-In round as the America East champion against the PL champion Mountain Hawks.
UP NEXT
• BU will continue Patriot League action with a three-game series at Holy Cross with Saturday's doubleheader set to begin at 12 p.m. ... Sunday's rubber game will begin at 12 p.m.
• The weekend series winner will claim a point in the inaugural Turnpike Trophy all-sports competition featuring BU and HC.
