May 14, 2008
Patriot League NCAA Tournament Notes 
Lehigh Heads To 2008 NCAA Softball Tournament
Lehigh will be making its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in school history having also qualified for the national tourney in 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2006. The Mountain Hawks earned the Patriot League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by capturing the Patriot League Championship title for the fourth time in the last five years and ninth time overall.
Lehigh was placed in the Amherst Regional for the second time in the last three years. The Patriot League's last three champions have played in the Amherst Regional with Lehigh competing at the UMass Softball Complex in 2006 and Colgate playing there in 2007.
Tournament play will begin for Lehigh at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, May 16 against Stanford (46-12), which is the No. 12 seed in the 64-team bracket. Friday's meeting between Lehigh and Stanford will be the first ever between the schools in softball.
The two other teams playing in the Amherst Regional are Massachusetts (39-11) and Princeton (25-22). Lehigh will play either UMass or Princeton on Saturday, May 17. The Mountain Hawks have faced Massachusetts twice, dropping both games against the Minutewomen in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Lehigh and Princeton are familiar foes, having met every year since 2003. The Mountain Hawks defeated the Tigers, 3-1, in Bethlehem, Pa. on April 22 of this year.
The NCAA Regional field consists of 64 teams, divided into 16 four-team regionals, with the regional winners advancing to play a best-of -three super regional against another region winner. The eight super regional winners will advance to the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.
The winner of the Amherst Regional will face the winner of the College Station, Texas Regional in the super regionals. No. 5 seed Texas A&M is the top seed in that regional.
Patriot League Notebook
Patriot League In The NCAAs
The Patriot League has gone 4-18 in the NCAA Tournament all-time in nine previous appearances. Lehigh has captured three of those four wins including two in 2006 when it defeated No. 13 seed Texas A&M twice before bowing out to UMass in the regional finals. The Mountain Hawks also notched a win in 2001 over Seton Hall. Army owns the only other League win in the NCAA Tournament, defeating Utah in 2002.
League-Leading Championship Titles
Lehigh won its Patriot League-leading ninth championship title this season. Army is next with four championship wins. Colgate won its third-ever championship title last year as the No. 2 seed. Bucknell and Holy Cross have each been crowned champion once.
35 and Up
This year marked the eighth-straight season that Lehigh collected at least 35 victories. In 2006 Lehigh won both a school record and Patriot League record 43 games.
Two-Time MVP
Lehigh's Lisa Sweeney went 3-1 in the Patriot League Tournament, pitching all 25 innings for the Mountain Hawks to earn Tournament MVP honors. Her 37 strikeouts are a Patriot League Tournament record. The MVP award was the second in Sweeney's career, having also won it in 2006. She is just the second softball player in League history to be named MVP twice. Lehigh's Meri Wall shared the honors in 1993 and won them outright in 1994.
Highly Decorated
Lehigh's Lisa Sweeney became the first student-athlete in Patriot League softball history to be named both the Patriot League Player of the Year and Patriot League Pitcher of the Year as she racked up both awards for her play during the 2008 campaign.
This season marked Sweeney's third Patriot League Pitcher of the Year award in as many years playing in the League. She is only the second pitcher in Patriot League history to win the award three times and the first to do so outright. Holy Cross' Genoa Grosch was named the Patriot League Pitcher of the Year in 1996 and 1999 and shared the honor in 1998.
Rare Company
Lehigh senior outfielder Kate Marvel became only the seventh player in Patriot League history to be named First-Team All-Patriot League all four years this season. Marvel is the first to accomplish this feat from Lehigh. Others in this exclusive company are Army's Nicki Robbins (1999-02) and Sheri Schweiker (1991-94), Colgate's Dorothy Donaldson (2002-05), Tara McGoff (1996-99), and Melissa Rawson (2000-03) and Holy Cross' Genoa Grosch (1996-99).
Marvel was the Patriot League Rookie of the Year in 2005 and the Patriot League Player of the Year in 2007.
Two Triple Crowns
Lehigh junior Lisa Sweeney is leading the Patriot League in both the batting and pitching triple crown categories. Sweeney is first in overall batting average (.416), RBI (46) and home runs (13), as well as ERA (1.54), wins (25) and strikeouts (297). Sweeney is the only player in the country to be leading her conference in both the batting and pitching triple crown categories.
Single-Season Marks
Lehigh's Lisa Sweeney became the Patriot League's single-season leader this year in both strikeouts, now with 297, and in walks drawn as a batter with 40. She also ranks in the top five on other single-season lists, including home runs (tied-3rd, 13), RBI (3rd, 46), runs (tied-4th, 44) and wins (2nd, 25). She currently owns the top spot for single-season victories with 26 in 2006.
