READING, Pa. – The Albright softball team ended its season on a high note as it earned a pair of victories over Juniata on Tuesday afternoon. The Lions edged their opponents 1-0 in the first game, and defeated the Eagles 8-5 in game two.
Riley Gerenda earned the victories in both games with the junior starting the first game only. Over the two games, Gerenda gave up two runs in 10.1 innings with both runs coming in the second game. In game one, she limited her opponents to three hits and two walks while fanning two to give Albright's offense a chance to take the lead.
Both teams threatened in the early innings, but smart base running gave Albright the chance to score the game's lone run.
Camille Sears started the Lions rally after reaching base on an infield single. After a sacrifice bunt moved her to second,
Brianne Long singled to left center to put runners on the corners. Long swiped her fifth stolen base of the season during the following at-bat to put runners in scoring position. While Sears was thrown out at home on
Madison Bear's fielder's choice, Long advanced to third to set up the Lions game-winning run. Juniata's Alyssa Fasolo attempted to pickoff Bear at first. While the attempt was successful, Long raced home to score the winning run before Bear was tagged out.
The Lions broke a scoreless tie in the second inning of game two. Albright opened the inning with four straight baserunners with a successful pickoff resulting in the only out.
Kelly Cembrale hit a fly ball out to right to hand Albright an early 1-0 lead.
Juniata knotted the score at one in the top of the third, but the Lions broke through in the bottom half to take a lead they would never relinquish. For the second straight inning, Albright had its first four batters reach base. After back-to-back singles and a hit batter loaded the bases,
Jessica Rodriguez drew a walk to give the Lions a 2-1 lead. The Lions broke through two batters later. With two outs on the scoreboard,
Alyssa Medina sent the ball to center field for a two-RBI single to extend the lead to 4-1.
The Eagles continued to chip away at the lead and were able to score two unearned runs off of Sears. Gerenda came in for relief with two outs in the fourth, and quickly got Alicia Regnault to ground out for the final out of the inning.
Albright tacked on four more runs in the fourth to take a commanding 8-3 lead.
Jordan Chell ignited the Lions' offense reaching first on a Juniata error. Chell would go on to score on a
Regina Milburn double.
Armida Roman put the game out of reach with one swing of the bat as the junior sent the ball over the left field wall for a two-run homer.
Abigail Lord would bring home Rodriguez for the final run of the inning.
The Eagles attempted a comeback in the sixth inning, but it was not enough, as Gerenda remained steady on the mound to earn her 15th win of the season.
Lord finished the day with three hits, while both
Stephany Courtney and Roman each added a pair.
