BOSTON - Senior Alex Heinen went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and a double as the top-seeded Boston University softball team defeated third-seeded Lehigh, 2-1, to advance to the championship series of 2019 Patriot League Championship on Friday morning at BU Softball Field.

Heinen's ninth homer of the season came in the fourth inning to give BU (36-18) a 1-0 lead. After the Mountain Hawks (26-27) evened the score in the bottom half of the fourth frame, Heinen's sixth-inning double eventually scored senior Emily Morrow for the game-winning run. Sophomore Marina Sylvestri also went 2-for-3 with two singles.

Sophomore Ali DuBois improved to 23-9 with another strong pitching performance. She scattered three hits and struck out four for her second complete game of the postseason. In two playoff starts this year, DuBois is 2-0 with 10 strikeouts and has allowed only five hits.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Senior Madi Killebrew led off the second inning with a single and eventually advanced to third, but the Terriers were unable to get her home.
• That was the only hit of the game until Heinen's solo shot to left center in the top of the fourth inning.
• Lehigh loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fourth and tied the game with a sac fly to right field.
• DuBois limited the damage with a huge strikeout to keep the game tied.
• The Terriers threatened in their half of the fifth when Sylvestri singled and freshman Emily Gant reached after laying down a perfect bunt, but Lehigh escaped the jam unscathed.
• A wild sequence led to the Terriers' second run of the game in the top of the sixth. After Morrow drew a leadoff walk, Heinen doubled off the fence in left center. Morrow stopped at third, but Heinen was tagged out between second and third. Morrow then started towards home, and as she tried to get back to third, the Lehigh shortstop slipped and dropped the ball, which allowed Morrow to scamper to the plate.
• The Terriers then collected a pair of two-out singles to force Gabriella Nori (9-13) out of the game, but Parker Boyd struck out the first batter she faced to end the inning.
• Lehigh moved a runner to second in the bottom of the sixth, but DuBois struck out Addie Kittel to retire the side.
• DuBois then ended the game with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.

GAME NOTES

• DuBois limited a Lehigh offense that had averaged 6.75 runs over its last four games to just one run on Friday.
• She passed Whitney Tuthill ('13) for the No. 4 spot in the BU record book with her 51st career victory.
• Heinen is 4-for-6 in the conference tournament with two RBIs.
• The Terriers are now 13-2 all-time in the PL tournament with both losses occurring in the 2017 championship round.

NEXT UP: LEHIGH (PL CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND)

• The Terriers will face Lehigh, 3-2 come-from-behind winner over Bucknell, in the championship round, which will begin Saturday morning at 11 a.m.
• BU needs just one more win to claim its second straight Patriot League title.
• A second game, if necessary, will take place at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
• Lehigh won both championship round games against the Terriers at home in 2017, but BU came back to claim the title in the first championship game in 2018 at home, 8-0(5).