READING, Pa. – Junior left fielder
Brooke Yerger gunned down the tying run at the plate to end the game and the Albright Lions softball team (25-17) held on for a 6-5 victory over the Hunter Hawks (20-12) in ECAC First Round action on Wednesday afternoon at Albright Softball Field in Reading.
Trailing 6-4, Hunter had runners at second and third with two outs in the seventh and Gianna Raimondi's RBI single brought in a run before Yerger made a strong throw home and
Stephanie Pomante applied the tag to retire pinch-runner Camryn Roy. The Hawks had plated a pair earlier in the inning on Ally Bricker's two-run double.
Albright has tied the single-season program record for wins with the victory.
Freshman
Allison Melahn (16-6) allowed five runs on 10 hits to go along with three walks and a strikeout in 6 1/3 IP to record the win for the Lions. Junior
Camille Sears (0.2 IP, H, K) came on in relief of Melahn in the seventh and notched her first save of the season.
Sarah Schor (3-2) got the start for Hunter and was dealt the loss after giving up three runs on four hits while walking three and fanning one in 2 1/3 IP.
The Lions opened the scoring with a three-run third as junior
Jessica Rodriguez hit a solo shot to right and Pomante added a two-run blast later in the frame. The home run was the first of Rodriguez's career. Senior
Kelly Cembrale led off the fourth with a single and Yerger and Rodriguez came through with consecutive RBI doubles to make it a 5-0 game. Hunter got a pair back in the top of the sixth, but the Lions answered with a run in the home half of the frame as Sears led off with a single, advanced to second on a throwing error by Raimondi, advanced to third on an error charged to Bricker at first and scored when
Corinne Garuffe reached on a fielder's choice.
Rodriguez (3-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, SB, R), Sears (2-4, 2 R) and Yerger (2-4, 2B, RBI, SB, R) all registered multi-hit games for head coach
Marguerite DeLucas' squad.
Albright will hit the road to battle Penn State-Behrend in the ECAC Semifinals on Saturday, May 11 at 1 p.m.