Championship Central

GRANTHAM, Pa. – The No. 2 seed Albright Lions softball team will open play in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament on Friday, May 3 by battling the No. 3 seed Alvernia Golden Wolves at Messiah's Starry Softball Field at 12 p.m.

The MAC Commonwealth Softball tournament features a double-elimination format and will run through Sunday, May 5.

Tickets: The MAC mandates the prices for adults at $6, senior citizens at $5, students with valid ID and children are $3 and all children under six are free. All tickets can be purchased at the gate.

Live Coverage: The Messiah sports information office will provide live stats for all games throughout the weekend. There will also be live updates provided throughout the weekend on the Albright Athletics' official twitter account (@AlbrightLions).

MAC Commonwealth Tournament: Albright is the No. 2 seed and will open tournament play against No. 3 seed Alvernia. The Lions split the regular season title with Arcadia who is the top seed in the field and will play the winner of No. 4 Widener and No. 5 Lebanon Valley.

Scouting the Lions: Albright enters play at 23-15 (13-3 MAC Commonwealth) and is on a 12-game winning streak after closing the regular season with a sweep of Messiah on Saturday. Freshman Allison Melahn is 15-4 with a 2.91 ERA in 22 games (18 starts) and was named MAC Commonwealth Rookie of the Year on Wednesday, while head coach Marguerite DeLucas was named Coach of the Year after leading the Lions to the program's first postseason berth since 2007. Melahn's 15 wins were tops in the league. Juniors Camille Sears and Brooke Yerger both broke the program's single-season hits record, while Sears ranks second in the conference in RBI (37) and fifth in batting average (.418) and Yerger is tied for third in stolen bases with 18 and sits seventh in AVG (.392). Sears earned All-Conference First Team honors at designated player, Yerger and senior Stephanie Pomante received second team honors and junior outfielder Jessica Rodriguez was named to the honorable mention squad.

Scouting Arcadia: The Knights enter play at 28-12 overall (13-3 MAC Commonwealth) and most recently split a non-conference doubleheader at Stevens on Tuesday afternoon. Arcadia leads the league in team ERA (1.61) and junior Mary Pat Murray was named MAC Commonwealth Pitcher of the Year after going 13-4 with a 0.91 ERA and 15 complete games. Senior infielder Jackie Bilotti received her third straight MAC Commonwealth Player of the Year award and ranks in the top five in the league in AVG (.452), hits (57), stolen bases (20) and runs scored (36). Pitcher Kylee Schwind joined Murray in earning all-conference honors after going 11-7 with a 2.33 ERA in 21 appearances (19 starts).

Scouting Alvernia: Alvernia finished in third place in the regular season after going 24-15-1 (10-6 MACC). The Golden Wolves lead the conference in hitting with a .333 team average and junior infielder JoAnnah Lim ranks second in the conference at .466, while sophomore Sarah Reinert leads the league in hits (58) and ranks second in runs scored (39). In the circle, freshman hurler Ally Decker went 10-7 with a 2.71 ERA in 20 appearances (15 starts) for Alvernia.

Scouting Widener: The Pride won their final three games of the regular season and sit at 24-14 overall (9-7 MACC). Widener is hitting .317 as a team and had three regulars earn All-MAC Commonwealth Second Team honors: Carli Benozich (.378-1-32, 27 R in 38 G), Ally McDowell (.375-1-25, 13 SB in 38 G) and Jamie Gosselin (.370-0-16, led MACC in runs scored with 40). Sophomore Kait Jaworski led the Pride pitching staff by going 14-6 with a 3.69 ERA in 25 appearances (19 starts) and her 14 wins ranked second in the conference.

Scouting Lebanon Valley: The Dutchmen qualified for the postseason on the final day of the season by virtue of a win over Arcadia and the Lions' sweep of Messiah. First baseman Rylee Shockley led the way offensively for the Dutchmen and was named to the All-Conference second team by hitting .417 with three home runs and a team-leading 25 RBI, while senior catcher Savannah Toth earned All-Conference first team honors after hitting .358 with four home runs and 21 RBI in 37 games. LVC posted a 3.83 team ERA and senior Lexi Windsor went 11-9 with a 2.45 ERA in 26 appearances (24 starts) to earn all-conference recognition.

2019 MAC Commonwealth Tournament Schedule

Friday, May 3
Game 1: No. 5 Lebanon Valley vs. No. 4 Widener, 10 a.m.
Game 2: No. 3 Alvernia vs. No. 2 Albright, 12 p.m.
Game 3: Game 1 Winner vs. No. 1 Arcadia, 2 p.m.
Game 4: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 4 p.m. (Loser eliminated)
 
Saturday, May 4
Game 5: Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner, 11 a.m.
Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 3 Loser, 1 p.m. (Loser eliminated)
Game 7: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 5 Loser, 3 p.m. (Loser eliminated)
 
Sunday, May 5
Game 8: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner, 1 p.m.
Game 9: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner, 3 p.m. (If Necessary)