South Mountaineer Volume 35, Issue 25

              Volume 35, Number 25
May 4, 1993
Bethlehem, Pa.
LEHIGHLIGHTS
AND THE HONORS CONTINUE - The
Lehigh softball team didn't just stop at
winning a Palriol League title on Sunday.
Head coach Sue Troyan received her first-
ever Patriot League Coach of the Year
honors for leading the team to the best
record (29-13) in history. Troyan is now the
program's all-time winningest coach with
60 victories. In addition, sophomore pitcher/
leftfielder Nina Rems was named to the
All-Patriot League team after hitting . 304
and driving in 20 runs this season. On the
mound, Rems set a club record for victories
(12) which Meri Wall broke with her 13th
in the tournament.
COACHES INACTION—The Sunburst
Soccer Club of Bethlehem will take on the
Italia Soccer Club of Bridgeport,
Connecticut in the quarterfinals of the
Region I United States National Men's
Amateur Cup this Sunday. May 9 at 2 p.m.
on the Goodman Campus. Lehigh head
men's soccer coach Dean Koski and
assistant women's soccer coach Kevin
Babyak arc bolli members of llie Sunburst
team, which will be aiming lo advance to
the semifinals two weeks later.
A PRETTY SUCCESSFUL 'CREW—
The Lehigh crew team competed in the
Patriot  League  championships on
Saturday. April 24 with relatively sound
results. In women's action, the Varsity
Lightweighl Four look first place in a lime
of 7:12.2. The Varsity Women's Eight
squad finished second, right behind a strong
Navy squad. On the men's side, the Varsity
Lightweight placed second, just three
seconds behind Fordham. The Men's
Varsity Four moved from last place to
finish third in a field of six. The crew team
competed in the 5th annual Lehigh-
Lafayette Regatta this past weekend.
THE SECOND TIME AROUND — The
Lehigh softball team became the school's
second Palriol League champion in ihe
1992-93 calendar year (and in history) last
weekend. The women's cross country team
won the honor back in October.
INSIDE the Mountaineer
Patriot League track results... 2
Wrestling recruits 3
Spring sports roundup 3
Spring sports slate 4
Summer camp information .... 5
The softball team has climbed the ladder to
success in recent years, culminating with this
year's Patriot League championship. A look at
the last six seasons:
YEAR
RECORD
1988
18-23
1989
15-23
1991
10-25-1
1992S
1993
29-13
More Lehigh records fall at track championships! ... see page 2
ENGINEERS BRING IT ALL HOME
LU Softball wins Patriot League championship in dramatic fashion
By MARC GESUALDO
South Mountaineer Editor
Was it because they
were angry that so many
players from theirfirst-place
team were snubbed in the
voting for the All-Patriot
League team?
Could be.
Or was it because they
reached deep down when on
the brink of elimination and
came up with gutsy
performances that ended up
with half of the dirt from the
Pates Park field soiling their
white uniforms?
Sounds legitimate.
Or maybe, just maybe,
the Lehigh Engineers are one
heck of a talented softball
team.
Take your pick.
The bottom line is the
Engineers emerged from last
weekend's Patriot League
tournament as champions in
a performance that would
have made Rocky Balboa
proud.
Lehigh won three
straight one-run games on
Sunday afternoon and
captured the championship
to cap off a magical season
which saw the Engineers
finish with a 29-13 record
and head coach Sue Troyan
receive Patriot League
Coach of the Year honors.
"The whole thing is just like a
dream,"Troyan said. "Two years ago we
were the doormat of the league and no
one could have imagined this was
possible. It's really a tribute to the kids
and they deserve all the credit."
Lehigh entered the tournament as
the number one seed but still seemed to
be searching forthe respect that normally
accompanies that honor. Freshmen Kim
Miller and Jessica Feigley and junior
pitcher Meri Wall weren't voted on to
the All-League team despite sensational
seasons by all three players.
Only sophomore pitcher/leftfielder
Nina Rems, who ended up with a 12-5
record on the mound and batted .304,
was voted on to the team by the league's
coaches.
"We wanted to prove that we were
the best team because we felt we weren't
getting the respect we deserved," said
Wall, who won two games on the final
day and finished the season at 13-4. "We
had a team goal to work together and
earn this title and that's exactly what we
did."
The Engineers had a bye in the first
WE'RE NUMBER ONE! Jessica Feigley (22) lifts Kim Miller into the air after
the two helped Lehigh win the Patriot League championship. -Photo by Daryl smith
round and took the field for the first time on
Saturday at 8 a.m. against Fordham.
Behind a three-hit, six-strikeout effort
from Wall and a bases-clearing seventh-
inning triple from senior centerfielder Mary
Oliverie, Lehigh took a 4-2 decision and
moved on to meet Bucknell that evening.
Lehigh trailed the Bison, 2-1, in the
seventh inning but tied the score on a triple
by freshman third baseman Kathy Kotula
and a sacrifice fly from sophomore designated
hitter Marissa Mayo.
The Engineers took a 3-2 lead in the
eighth when Oliverie's grounder to short
trickled through to the outfield, but Bucknell
struck for two runs off Rems in the bottom of
the extra frame todeal Lehigh a heart-breaking
4-3 loss in the double elimination tourney.
The setback forced the Engineers into
the unenviable position of having to win
three games in a row on Saturday.
Mission Impossible? Think again - that
4-3 score would prove to be a blessing for the
Engineers the next day.
"The girls were pretty disappointed after
that game but they knew what they had to
do," Troyan said. "Meri knew she was going
to have to pitch twice and Nina didn't want
to lose Bucknell again so we just tried to stay
focused."
The Engineers faced Army
on Sunday at noon and
continued to provide thrills
for their loyal fans. Lehigh
led by a 3-2 score but the
Lady Knights scrapped for a
run in the bottom of the
seventh to tie the game.
In the top of the ninth,
Kathy Kotula led off with a
triple for Lehigh. Oliverie
then played hero once again
by hitting a two-out single
on the first pitch which scored
pinch runner Lori Kresho
with the game-winning run.
Wall pitched all nine innings
and struck out six for the
win.
"I normally let the first
pitch go by, but in clutch
situations I'll jump on it,"
Oliverie said. "If my mind is
made up and I don't hesitate,
I usually wind up getting a
base hit."
The win meant Lehigh
would have to face the Bison
again and beat them twice,
since Bucknell still hadn't
lost a game.
Lehigh took care of the
first half of that task by
rallying from a 3-0 deficit.
Miller tripled in two runs in
the bottom of the fourth and
scored on Natalie Nestor's
sacrifice fly to knot the game
at 3-3.
It stayed that way until the bottom of the
seventh when, with two outs, Rems singled in
Mayo for the 4-3 game-winner. Rems also
got the win on the mound, yielding just five
hits and three unearned runs.
"A lot of our success just came from total
adrenalin," said Miller, who started the Lehigh
comeback in that game. "We knew the games
were going to be close and they could have
gone either way. We just had such a desire to
win."
And so the stage was set for the
championship game.
Wall took the mound for the second time
that afternoon, after having hurled a nine-
inning stint in the win over Army. And as had
been the case the entire weekend, Lehigh
rewarded its faithful with another gut-
wrenching victory.
After Bucknell struck first with a run in
the bottom of the second, the Engineers came
up with three runs in the fourth. Feigley's
two-run single plated Rems and Miller and
catcher Karen Kascinski added a sacrifice fly
to score Nestor and give Lehigh a 3-1 lead.
The Bison came back in the bottom of
the inning with a pair of runs to tie it at 3-3
- Please see CHAMPS page 2