READING, Pa. – The Albright Lions softball team (8-8, 2-0 MACC) opened MAC Commonwealth play with a doubleheader sweep of the Hood Blazers (4-16, 0-6 MACC) on Saturday afternoon at Albright Softball Field.

Albright captured game one by a score of 6-1 and took home a 9-1 decision in the nightcap.

Game One
The Lions jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the home half of the first as Jordan Chell and Camille Sears reached with consecutive two-out singles to set the stage for a two-run double off the bat of Stephanie Pomante.

Freshman Allison Melahn earned the win for the Lions after allowing just one run on three hits to go along with three walks and seven strikeouts in a complete game effort.

Hood got a run back in the top of the third as Jordan Specht delivered an RBI single to cut the lead to 2-1. Sears and Pomante quickly answered in the bottom half of the inning with RBI singles to stretch the Albright lead to 4-1. In the fourth inning, senior Kelly Cembrale reached with a two-out single, advanced to second on a Brooke Yerger single and scored on an RBI single from Jessica Rodriguez and the Lions added their final run of the game in the fifth to make it a 6-1 game.

Maddie Walter (3-7) was dealt the loss for Hood after giving up six runs (five earned) on 12 hits in six innings of work.

Pomante (2-3, 2B, 3 RBI), Rodriguez (2-3, RBI), Sears (2-4, RBI, 2 R) and Yerger (3-4, R) all delivered multi-hit games for Albright.

Game Two
The Lions once again jumped out to an early lead in game two with three runs in the home half of the first. An error and a walk put two runners on before Sears plated both runners via a two-run single and scored later in the frame on freshman Nicole Salerno's RBI single to give the hosts a 3-0 edge.

Melahn (4-3) recorded the win for the second straight game as she gave up one run on two hits while walking two and fanning three in 4.0 IP and Sears followed with a scoreless inning of relief. Kiley Banks (1-7) took the loss for the Blazers after being charged with five runs (one earned) on three hits to go along with four walks in two innings.

Junior Abigail Lord added an RBI single of her own as part of a two-run second to make it a 5-0 game and the Lions added two more in the third including an RBI double from Rodriguez and a sac fly from senior Jordan Chell. Sears knocked in her third run of the game with an RBI double in the home half of the fifth to extend the lead to 9-1 and put the eight-run rule in effect.

Salerno (2-3, RBI) and Sears (2-4, 2B, 3 RBI, R) recorded multi-hit contests for the Lions, while Yerger added a hit and scored three runs. Rodriguez knocked in a run, drew a pair of walks and scored a pair of runs.

Albright hits the road to battle Penn State Berks in non-conference action on Tuesday, April 2. First pitch of game one is set for 3 p.m.