READING, Pa. -- Albright opened the second game of its MAC Commonwealth doubleheader against Alvernia with seven consecutive hits on its way to a 9-1 victory over the Crusaders on Senior Day on Saturday at the Albright Softball Field.
Madison Bear had the big hit in the nine-run first inning with a bases loaded double to straight away centerfield. Albright pounded out 11 hits in the second game as
Brianne Long had three hits and
Sammi O'Connor had two hits and drove in three runs.
The game two victory for Albright earned a split of the doubleheader after Alvernia won the opening game 5-2.
Saturday marked Senior Day for the Lions as O'Connor,
Sera Stull and
Morgan Cullen played their final home games at the Albright Softball Field.
After losing the opener, Albright came out swinging in game two.
Kelly Cembrale led off the inning with a single and advanced to third when
Jordan Chell followed with a single to put runners on second and third after Chell moved up a base on the throw to third.
O'Connor then laced a double to center that brought home both Cembrale and Chell and gave the Lions a 2-1 lead.
Stephanie Pomante singled up the middle and
Regina Milburn followed with a single that brought home O'Connor upping the Lions lead to 3-1.
Long reached on an infield single and Pomante dashed around to score from second to increase the Lions lead to 4-1.
Stephany Courtney singled to center, which brought home the Lions fifth run of the inning.
Corinne Garuffe was safe on a fielder's choice to load the bases and Bear ripped a double to center that narrowly missed leaving the park for a grand slam. Bear's double brought home Long, Courtney and Garuffe to up the lead to 8-1.
O'Connor capped the scoring with her third RBI of the inning when she singled to center to plate Bear giving Albright a 9-1 lead.
That was more than enough offense for O'Connor who allowed only two hits after the first inning to pick up the victory. She struck out two in her 5.0 innings and improved to 17-9 on the season.
Albright, which is 24-13 overall and 7-7 in the MAC Commonwealth, fell behind 2-0 in the first inning but rallied to tie the game with single runs in the bottom of the first and third innings.
Morgan Psiuk hit a three-run home run in the top of the sixth inning to break the 2-2 deadlock and secure the win for the Crusaders.
Albright had 10 hits in game one, but left 13 runners on base. Pomante had three hits to lead the Lions, while Chell, O'Connor, Milburn, Long, Garuffe, Cullen and Courtney all had hits.
The Lions will attempt to tie the school record of 26 victories when it visits Dickinson for a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday (April 26) beginning at 5 p.m.
