The softball team followed up its 5-game winning streak with a trio of home losses to rival Lehigh University, struggling to finish out close contests.
Beginning the weekend with a doubleheader on Saturday, the Leopards (3-3 Patriot League, 5-21 overall) got off to a slow start against the Mountain Hawks (3-3 Patriot League, 15-17 overall), giving up three runs through the first three innings.
However, the Maroon and White stormed back in the bottom of the third. Senior outfielder Mary Grace O’Neill doubled to left center before running the bases for the Leopards’ opening score.
“I think we’re just sticking to our plan,” O’Neill said. “I think everyone’s having a good mindset and good confidence when they’re at bat, so just trusting themselves every at-bat and not trying to do too much at once.”
Following O’Neill’s run, the floodgates opened for the Leopards, as the team tallied five hits en route to six runs, but the Mountain Hawks soared back in the fifth with five runs of their own to take an 8-7 lead, which would be the final score.
“We were trying to play outside of ourselves,” sophomore catcher Regan Dillon said. “We talk a lot about playing authentically ourselves, only we can play Lafayette softball like Lafayette softball.”
The Maroon and White again fell behind early in the second game but put together a flurry of runs in the bottom of the third. As in game one, Lehigh retook the lead, and the Leopards failed to mount a comeback in the final inning, leaving a runner on first base and finishing with a 7-5 loss.
Sunday’s affair saw the quickest start for the Maroon and White, as junior pitcher Marisa Powell allowed no runners on base through the opening inning, and O’Neill’s double to centerfield and subsequent stolen bases got the scoring started. O’Neill now sits in fourth for career stolen bases for the Leopards.
“I just try to get on base as much as I can, either look at my coach is giving me the sign or just try and get a good read off the pitch and go,” O’Neill said.
The Leopards cleaned up their outfielding, limiting Lehigh to just two runs through seven innings, but struggled to get runners on base.
Down 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh, Dillon launched a moonshot deep left field for a home run, evening the score at two apiece.
“They’ve been pitching me inside all day, but I’ve been laying off,” Dillon said. “I talked to Coach K and I walked up there. I knew my best is better than her best, and if she was gonna throw me an inside pitch, I was gonna attack it.”
Failing to tally another run after Dillon’s homer, the two teams went into extra innings. After giving up zero runs through four innings, freshman pitcher Makayla Lecky surrendered two runs to Lehigh, putting the Leopards back into do-or-die in the bottom of the eighth.
With two runners on base, two outs and the game on the line, sophomore infielder Katie Harrington singled to deep right field, bringing home two runners to tie the game.
“I was losing my approach the first couple of bats,” Harrington said. “I really focus on my breathing when I’m hitting, and the previous at-bats, I wasn’t doing as well, and I was kind of outside of myself. So the last at-bat, I just played like me again.”
Facing an opportunity to steal victory, freshman infielder Emma Ahlborn boomed a shot down the right center, but a diving Lehigh catch prevented Harrington from scoring the winning run and extended the game another inning.
The two teams failed to score in the ninth, but a dominant Mountain Hawk 10th inning saw Lehigh notch six runs, while three quick outs from the Leopards ended the game at 10-4.
“A couple things go differently — that’s our game, that’s our series,” Dillon said. “We know that we’re good. We belong here, and we’re ready to take the next team.”
Hitting the road this Saturday, the Leopards take on Colgate University (0-3 Patriot League, 10-22 overall) in a three-game series.
