By Tim Robertson

With one out in the top of the eighth, second baseman Casey Fee roped a walk-off inside-the-park home run to center field, utilizing her speed to beat out the throw at home plate before her teammates mauled her.

“It’s exciting to see her run – she can fly,” coach Bill Edwards said following the team’s doubleheader against Lehigh University on Wednesday.

“Never, in all my years, have I seen an inside-the-park home run,” said Lehigh coach Fran Troyan, who’s in his 13th season on the bench.

Lehigh’s outfielders played shallow on Fee, who opponents know as a slapper and bunter, which allowed the ball to roll to the fence, Troyan said after the second game.

Not used to the type of speed Fee possesses, Lehigh called for the relay to go to third, not home plate.

“I just think she had [the throw] beat,” Edwards said.

Casey Fee gave the Pride a 2-1 win in extra innings over the Mountain Hawks, and scored a run in the second game, a 3-1 win for Hofstra. With the pair of wins, the Pride improves to 20-9 heading into this weekend’s series against their CAA Rival, the Seahawks of UNC-Wilmington.

The Pride struck in the first inning on an RBI single by senior pitcher Courtney Oliver, which scored Fee, who reached on a single of her own.

In the circle, Oliver dominated the Mountain Hawks for four innings of no-hit ball, but Lehigh, who drop to 23-6 with the pair of losses, broke through in the fifth, taking advantage of a walk and a single, and finally pushed a run across when Carly Potuck laid down an RBI bunt to Oliver, who had no play.

Oliver finished with four strikeouts, but picked up a no decision, as Joanna Kralowetz replaced her with the game tied in the seventh inning.

Kralowetz slammed the door on the Mountain Hawks by retiring four of the five batter she faced and notching one strikeout to earn her third win.

Lehigh pitcher Lisa Sweeney dropped to 12-2, but struck out 10 in 7.1 innings. Senior Pam Dreslinski was the only Pride batter not to fall victim to Sweeney.

“Lisa is an outstanding pitcher and is doing a great job for us,” Troyan said.

Rarity returned in the nightcap as the Pride came from behind for the first time this season, Edwards said.

The Pride, down 1-0, pushed three runs across in the fourth with three consecutive singles, climaxing with Oliver’s two-RBI single. With efficient pitching from Kralowetz – she retired 10 of 12 in four innings, the Pride managed the hold on to a 3-1 win.

The only blemish in Kralowetz’s box was a solo home run to left field by Megan Conrad, just her second career homer.

“We have to play the way we did today. We had intensity,” Edwards said after the game.

The Pride improves to 11-2 all-time against Lehigh.

Junior ace Kayleigh Lotti took the ball from Kralowetz to begin the fifth, and from that point forward, the Mountain Hawks didn’t have a chance.

Lotti fanned seven of the nine batters she faced, and now sits 54 strikeouts from tying the school’s career strikeout record. Lotti’s first save of the season was also just her fifth of her career.

“[Our pitching] was perfect all the way around. It is great to win,” Edwards said.