GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Albright Lions softball team (24-17) saw their MAC Commonwealth Tournament run come to an end with a pair of losses on Friday afternoon at Messiah's Starry Softball Field.
The No. 2 seed Lions dropped a 7-0 decision to top seeded Arcadia in the first game of the day and rallied in game two, but fell short in a 4-3 heartbreaker against No. 4 seed Widener.
Game One
Arcadia struck first with a run in the home half of the third as Brooke Ward led off with a single, advanced to third on a pair of sac bunts and scored on Jackie Bilotti's RBI triple.
Trailing 1-0, the Lions threatened with runners at first and second and one out in the top of the fourth, but Kylee Schwind got
Stephanie Pomante to fly to left center and
Nora Harrison grounded into a fielder's choice to end the inning. Hunter Schantz's two-run homer in the fifth made it a 3-0 game in favor of the Knights who extended the lead with four runs in the sixth.
Freshman
Allison Melahn (15-5) was dealt the loss for Albright after giving up seven runs on 12 hits while fanning one in 5 1/3 IP. Schwind (13-7) gave up four hits to go along with a walk and eight strikeouts in a complete game effort to earn the win for Arcadia.
Kelly Cembrale,
Kaitlyn Chell,
Stephany Courtney and
Jessica Rodriguez recorded hits in the contest for the Lions, while
Camille Sears (0.2 IP, H) had a scoreless outing in relief.
Game Two
Widener opened the scoring with four runs in the first as a pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out before Ariel Silva delivered the big blow in the inning with a two-run double.
The Lions quickly got a run back in the home half of the frame as Rodriguez drew a walk, advanced to second and scored on Sears' RBI double to cut the lead to 4-1. In the bottom of the third,
Brooke Yerger and Rodriguez started the inning with consecutive singles and Pomante plated both runners later in the frame with a two-run single to bring Albright within a run at 4-3.
Sears (7-9) gave up four runs on six hits while walking two and fanning two in a complete game effort, but was dealt the loss for the Lions. Kait Jaworski (17-6) surrendered three runs on seven hits to go along with a walk and three strikeouts in seven innings of work and recorded the win for the Pride.
Rodriguez (2-2, BB, 2 R) and Yerger (2-4, R) registered multi-hit games for head coach
Marguerite DeLucas' squad.
The Lions await word of a potential berth in the ECAC Championship which will be announced on Monday, May 8. Stay tuned to albrightathletics.com for further updates.
