March 24, 2008
All three of Monday's softball award winners were first time honorees. Bucknell's Alison Ford was named the Patriot League Player of the Week, Colgate's Jesse McCarrick was tabbed the Patriot League Pitcher of the Week and Lafayette's Kerry Griffin was selected the Patriot League Rookie of the Week.
Patriot League Softball Release - 3.24.08 
Player of the Week
Alison Ford, Bucknell
Fr., 1B/2B, Suison, Calif.
Ford batted .800 in a doubleheader sweep of Coppin State with six RBI and three runs scored. The freshman Bison posted the first three-hit game of her career in game one versus the Eagles and tallied four RBI and scored two runs in that contest. She has hits in six of her last nine games and saw her season average jump to .238. The honor is the first for Ford and the first Player of the Week award for Bucknell since the opening week of the 2007 campaign.
Pitcher of the Week
Jesse McCarrick, Colgate
So., Oak Hill, Va.
McCarrick owned a 3.73 earned run average in three appearances last week. In a 1-0 victory over Siena she carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and finished with a two-hit shutout. It was the second shutout of her career. This honor is the first-ever for McCarrick.
Rookie of the Week
Kerry Griffin, Lafayette
Fr., SS/1B, Allenhurst, N.J.
Griffin batted .450 over seven contests last week at the Rebel Spring Games. The freshman from the Garden State hit safely in five games and produced two multi-hit outings. She had a run and a RBI in the win over Columbia and another run against Manhattan and another RBI versus Wisconsin-Green Bay. This is Griffin's first-ever Patriot League Rookie of the Week honor and the first for Lafayette this season.
Honorable Mention
Emma Kline, Lafayette
Jr., OF, New Hope, Pa.
Batted .428 over eight games with four runs scored and one RBI...Belted three doubles for the week.
Patriot League Notebook
Patriot League Play
Patriot League competition will begin this weekend with all six teams in action. League play will kick off on Saturday with three doubleheaders and another three doubleheaders on Sunday. Colgate will host Holy Cross, Lafayette will welcome Bucknell to Easton, Pa., while Lehigh will play at Army.
The Patriot League portion of the season will take place on Saturdays and Sundays as each team will play a four-game set with a doubleheader on each weekend day.
League Wins
Lehigh Head Coach Fran Troyan heads into this weekend with the most Patriot League wins among current head coaches with 173 over 13 seasons. Army's Jim Flowers is second with 148 League victories in 18 seasons, while Colgate's Vickie Sax is also over 100 League wins with 107 in 11 years.
Hitting 500
Lehigh junior Lisa Sweeney hit the 500 career strikeouts mark with her ninth and final K of the day in game one of a doubleheader versus Fairfield. Sweeney is only the fourth pitcher in Patriot League history to reach 500 career strikeouts.
First Round Of NCAA Stat Leaders
The first release of NCAA statistics for the 2008 season will be Tuesday, March 25. Check next week's Patriot League release for League student-athletes that rank in the top 50 and League teams that rank in the top 30.
2008 Patriot League Championship
The 2008 Patriot League Softball Championship will take place Thursday-Saturday, May 8-10 at the site of the highest seed. The top four teams in the regular-season standings will advance to the Patriot League tourney. The winner of the championship will represent the Patriot League in the NCAA Tournament as its automatic qualifier. Colgate is the defending Patriot League Champion.
Team Notebooks
Army Army finished up play at the Rebel Spring Games on Friday, going 0-6 last week and 1-10 in Florida overall. Army played Cornell the closest in a 1-0 loss in which the Big Red's lone run was unearned. Senior Veronica Barth threw a two-hitter against Cornell, walking none and striking out four. Senior Mary Ann Kearney batted .400 last week with one run scored and one RBI, while freshman Jill Galloway scored four runs and hit .333 for the week.
Bucknell Bucknell swept Coppin State in doubleheader action in its only games last week. Bucknell's combined 37 runs against Coppin State were its most in a doubleheader since joining the Patriot League for the 1991 season. Bucknell's team batting average jumped from .192 to .216 after its doubleheader sweep of Coppin State. Freshman Alison Ford batted .800 against Coppin State and posted the first three-hit game of career in first game of the doubleheader. She also tallied four RBI and two runs in that contest. Freshman Lauren Fry is in the midst of a career-best five-game hitting streak. Junior Caddie Lloyd and freshman Sam Rollandi have each hit in five-straight contests. Bucknell is scheduled to play two of its next 10 games at home, but will conclude the season with 15 of 19 at home.
Colgate Colgate went 1-5 last week in games played at the Rebel Spring Games. The Raiders concluded their time in Florida on Friday and posted a 3-5 record on their spring break trip. Senior Whitney Scott batted .333 in five games with two doubles and two RBI. While playing third, first and second, Scott handled 32 chances without an error defensively. Freshman Nicole Siedhof hit .385 for the Raiders with two RBI, two doubles and her first collegiate home run. Sophomore pitcher Jesse McCarrick was 1-2 for the Raiders. She carried a no-hitter against Siena into the seventh inning and finished with a two-hit shutout - her second career shutout.
Holy Cross Holy Cross was idle last week and will return to action on Wednesday in a doubleheader at Boston College.
Lafayette Lafayette posted a 3-5 mark last week to close out play at the Rebel Spring Games. The Leopards notched wins over Cornell, 8-0, Columbia, 9-3, and Manhattan, 11-1. Junior Emma Kline batted .428 last week, scoring four runs and batting in one. Kline also had three doubles on the week. Freshman Kerry Griffin hit .450 over seven contests with two runs scored and two RBI. Sophomore pitcher Kasey Karr earned two of Lafayette's three wins.
Lehigh Lehigh opened up its 2008 home schedule on Saturday, dropping both games of a non-league doubleheader against Fairfield. Junior pitcher Lisa Sweeney got her 500th career strikeout in game one versus Fairfield with nine in the contest. The loss was the first for Sweeney this season. Offensively, Sweeney added two of Lehigh's five hits in game one. Freshman Sam Miller accounted for Lehigh's only run in game one by belting a solo home run, the first of her career, to right field in the seventh inning. Senior Kate Marvel and sophomore Amy Piccinich added two hits apiece for the Brown and White, who dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season.
