GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Albright Lions softball team (23-15, 13-3 MACC) extended its winning streak to 12 games as they wrapped up the regular season with a sweep of the Messiah Falcons (18-20, 7-9 MACC) on Saturday afternoon at Messiah's Starry Softball Complex.
Albright clinched the No. 2 seed in next weekend's MAC Commonwealth Tournament with the wins.
The Lions took game one by a score of 6-4 and rallied for four runs in the final two innings en route to a 5-2 victory in game two.
Game One
The Lions grabbed an early 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the first as a single and a walk put two runners on before junior
Camille Sears plated a run with a sac fly and senior
Stephanie Pomante followed Sears with an RBI single.
Freshman
Allison Melahn (14-4) turned in the complete game effort for Albright as she gave up four runs (one earned) on eight hits while walking two and fanning one. Emily Albanese (7-4) was dealt the loss for the Falcons after giving up five runs (four earned) on nine hits to go along with a walk in four innings of work.
Messiah got a run back in the home half of the second as Rianna Trexler delivered an RBI single, but the Lions quickly answered in the top of the third when
Jordan Chell led off with a single, advanced to second on a single and scored when Pomante reached on an RBI fielder's choice. Albright tacked on two more runs in the fourth as
Stephany Courtney and
Kelly Cembrale both reached to start the inning and set the stage for
Jessica Rodriguez's RBI single and a passed ball that extended the lead to 5-1. Cembrale added an RBI single in the fifth to make it a 6-1 game before the Falcons got a pair back in the home half of the inning including an RBI single from Trexler. Messiah cut the lead to 6-4 with a run in the seventh, but Melahn got a popup and a lineout to shortstop to end the game.
Cembrale (3-4, 2B, RBI, R), Courtney (2-4, R) and junior
Brooke Yerger (2-4, SB, R) all registered multi-hit games for head coach
Marguerite DeLucas' squad. Yerger and
Sears have both broken the single-season program record for hits with 51 and 50 hits on the season to date.
Game Two
The Lions took a 3-2 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth en route to the 5-2 win in the nightcap.
Pomante led off the sixth with a double, pinch-runner
Leila Roberts advanced to third on a single and scored on senior
Corinne Garuffe's RBI groundout to tie the game at two. Junior
Abigail Lord singled earlier in the inning and scampered home with the go-ahead run when
Nicole Salerno reached on an error charged to Messiah SS Erin Cressman to make it a 3-2 game.
Melahn (15-4) gave up two runs on six hits while fanning one in seven innings of work to earn the win for Albright. Madelyn Yannetti (7-9) was charged with five runs (four earned) on 10 hits in 6 2/3 IP and took the loss for Messiah.
Rodriguez drew a one-out walk in the first, advanced to second on a groundout and scored on Sears' RBI single to give Albright an early 1-0 lead. The Falcons struck back with two in the bottom of the inning as Isabel Seise knocked in a run with an RBI double and scored on Jaelynn Harbold's RBI single.
The Lions plated a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh to take a 5-2 lead. A single and a fielder's choice put two runners on before Pomante came through with an RBI single and Salerno added a two-out RBI single later in the frame.
Lord (3-4, R) and Pomante (3-4, 2B, RBI, R) both posted multi-hit contests for the Lions.
The 2019 MAC Commonwealth Softball Tournament will start on Friday, May 3 at Messiah's Starry Softball Complex. Check back to albrightathletics.com for schedule updates in the coming days.
