AMHERST, Mass. -- Lehigh battled back from an early deficit to defeat the Princeton softball team 7-4 in the first elimination game at the NCAA Amherst Regional.
The loss ends Princeton's season at 25-24 while Lehigh (39-16-1) advanced to face host Massachusetts in another elimination game later Saturday.
“It's a privilege to come here," Princeton head coach Trina Salcido said. "You want to forget this day, but you want to remember it because you want to get back here and you want it to be different next year."
Kelsey Quist's single-season school record-tying 14th home run staked the Tigers to a 2-0 lead after one inning, but Lehigh tagged Princeton starter Jamie Lettire (8-4) for five runs in the top of the third.
The Mountain Hawks scored the five runs using two doubles, two singles and a two-run home run by Brooke Lewis to take a 5-2 lead. Princeton's Erin Miller hit her first career home run in the bottom of the inning, but the Tigers let a two-on, two-out situation slip to keep the game at 5-3.
Kristen Schaus entered the circle in the fourth for Princeton, but three straight singles loaded the bases and a walk pushed home a run before Schaus got out of the inning with the Tigers behind 6-3.
Princeton had another two-out opportunity in the fifth after loading the bases on two singles and a walk, but Lettire's RBI on a hit-by-pitch was all the Tigers got and Lehigh held on to a 6-4 lead. The Mountain Hawks got the run back in the top of the sixth on a two-out single by pitcher Lisa Sweeney (26-5).
Notes: The two home runs were Princeton's 54th and 55th of the season, well past the school record of 38 set in 2005 and just short of Cornell's Ivy League-record 57 in 2004.
The regional was Princeton's eighth NCAA tournament appearance. Princeton's last postseason win came against Lehigh in the same elimination game at the 2005 Tucson Regional.
Schaus' five strikeouts followed four earlier Saturday against Massachusetts to give her a Princeton-record total 833. Schaus broke the record of 819 (Erin Snyder '06) during the Ivy League Championship Series two weeks ago.
