READING, Pa. – The Albright Lions softball team managed to salvage a split against Stevenson on Wednesday afternoon as they tallied a 6-5 win in game two after falling 6-0 in game one.
 
With the split, the Lions record moves to 11-12 overall and 5-7 in MAC Commonwealth play. Meanwhile, the Mustangs moves to 12-14 with a 4-8 record in conference play.
 
In game one, the Mustangs jumped on the board right away as they scored two runs in the first inning. Stevenson put runners on first and second with one out and scored their first run on a RBI single in the next at-bat. The Mustangs then got a RBI double one batter later for their second run of the inning. Stevenson would add its lead in the top of the third on another RBI double following a leadoff walk, and then on a two-run single with the bases loaded to make it a 5-0 game. Freshman pitcher Lynsie Grant then entered the game to relieve starter senior Riley Gerenda, and she managed to escape a bases loaded jam with two outs to avoid further damage. Albright got its first hit of the game in the bottom of the third with one out, but was unable to do anything further in the inning. The Lions then did not take advantage after putting a runner on third base with two outs in the fifth and sixth innings. Stevenson would score its final run of the game in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly before the Lions flied out to end the game in the bottom of the seventh with runners on first and third. Junior Corinne Garuffe was the only Lion to record multiple hits in the game as she went 2-of-3 from the plate. Gerenda suffered the loss after she allowed five earned runs on seven hits in 2.1 innings, while striking out three and walking three. Grant pitched the final 4.2 innings and allowed just one earned run on four hits, while walking one batter. Mustang pitcher Morghan Fulton earned the complete game shutout after allowing four hits and struck out four batters.
 
Game two ended up being much kinder to the Lions as they scored first in the bottom of the first to take an early 1-0 lead. Sophomore Jessica Rodriguez led off the game with a double, and classmate Camille Sears tallied a double of her own to score Rodriguez two batters later. The Mustangs would tie the game on a two-out double in the top of the third, but the tie ended up being short-lived as Sears roped a three-run home run in the bottom half of the inning to give the Lions a 4-1 lead. Albright then added to its lead in the bottom of the fourth with two runs on three hits to make it a 6-1 game. Junior Jordan Chell hit a one-out single and advanced to second on a groundout. Junior Kelly Cembrale then tallied a RBI single to score Chell from second. Rodriguez would score Cembrale on a RBI double following a stolen base in what turned out to be the Lions final run of the game. On the mound, Sears escaped a first and third two out jam in the top of the sixth to keep the lead at five. However, she was unable to get the complete game as the Mustangs began to rally in the top of the seventh. Stevenson put a runner on third with one out following a throwing error to lead off the inning, and would cut into the Albright lead with a RBI single in the next at-bat. A bunt single then put two Mustangs runners on before a two-run double made things interesting as they made it a two run game with still one out. Gerenda came in to relieve Sears and struck out the first batter she face. She would allow one run to come across on a single in the next at-bat, but was able to retire the next Mustang batter on a fly out to preserve the win.
 
Rodriguez went a perfect 3-of-3 from the plate with two runs scored and a RBI, while Sears went 2-of-3 from the plate with four RBIs behind the three-run homer. Sears would still earn the win after pitching 6.1 innings and allowed five runs (three earned) on eight hits, while striking out one. Mustang starter Jasmyn Ogletree suffered the loss after allowing six earned runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings along with one strikeout. Fulton would come in for Ogletree and toss 2.1 perfect innings of relief.
 
The Lions will return to action tomorrow, April 19^th when they will travel to face Muhlenberg in a non-conference doubleheader at 3 p.m.