The Brown & White

The softball team will face the Villanova University Wildcats in a home doubleheader on Tuesday.

The Hawks are coming off of a four-game set against Lafayette College while Villanova recently finished up a series against the Louisville University Cardinals.

The Wildcats, 12-13 on the season and 2-4 in league play, handed the Cardinals their first league loss of the season and snapped their seven game winning streak in an 8-6 victory.

Last year, Lehigh split a doubleheader with the Wildcats at Villanova. The Hawks lost the first game 2-1 and won the second 2-0.

Head Coach Fran Troyan said facing the Wildcats will definitely be a challenge for the team.

"They are a scholarship school from the Big East and will be a huge test for us," Troyan said.

Junior pitcher Lisa Sweeney said she feels facing Villanova will prepare the team for playing against other opponents as well.

"They're a good team, always strong on the East Coast, and they should be really great competition to get ready for Bucknell the following weekend," Sweeney said.

But despite the importance of these games, the Hawks are plagued by injuries, which could definitely hinder performance.

Sophomore catcher Brooke Lewis said injuries have been a persistent issue this season for Lehigh.

"If you were to walk into Sports Med, at least half our team is in there," Lewis said.

Lewis recently sprained her MCL during practice.

Adding to the injured list is freshman third baseman Alex Cueva. Cueva injured her left arm during the weekend series at Army when she collided with an Army player.

Sweeney said all of the injuries are beginning to pile up.

"[Cueva] is a huge loss for us," Sweeney said. "She had an incredible weekend offensively against Army and is always steady on the field."

Lewis said players who have filled in because of injuries, such as junior infielder Whitney Lowe, have been successful.

"[Lowe] has also done a great job of getting timely hits and advancing runners," Lewis said.

With a good portion of teammates out, practice has been effected, sophomore catcher Lauren Eichblatt said.

"All of the injuries on our team have definitely impacted our team dynamic, especially in practice," Eichblatt said. "With so many people hurt it's hard to prepare effectively for the weekend, but we're making the best of the situation."

Despite the injuries, the Hawks have had success and sit with a record of 24-7 on the season, 5-1 in Patriot League play.

Senior captain and center fielder Kate Marvel can be partially attributed to the Hawks success along with pitchers Sweeney and Curtis, all league award winners.

Marvel was the Patriot League's player of the year in 2007, and led the league in runs, hits, triples, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. She led the nation in triples-per-game.

This season, Marvel is hitting .348 with eight RBIs and 13 runs scored.

Eichblatt said even though Sweeney and Curtis are great on the mound, the rest of the team cannot solely rely on them if want to continue winning.

"They really dominate in the circle, but as a team we can't depend on their performances," she said. "We have to play as a team and win as a team. We have to back them up and play solid defense and be aggressive on offense."

And although the Hawks sit on top of the league and have some stand-out players, Lewis said improvements still need to be made this season.

"Yeah we are successful this season, but there are always things that we can work on like our bunting and advancing the runner," she said.

Putting injuries and improvements aside the team's goal is to stay united through it all, Sweeney said.

"We're a cohesive team and work hard to make sure we're all pulling in the same direction," Sweeney said. "We support and encourage each other to get better and to play our best every time on the field."

The first game of the doubleheader will begin at 3 p.m. on Tuesday at Kaufman Field.