ANNVILLE, Pa. - The Albright Lions baseball team was downed twice by Lebanon Valley in a MAC Commonwealth doubleheader on Sunday afternoon. The Lions fell in game one 7-4 before suffering a 17-4 setback in game two.
 
With the losses, the Lions drop to 0-5 overall and 0-4 in MAC Commonwealth play. Meanwhile, the Dutchmen improve to 4-2 overall and 4-0 in conference play after completing a four-game sweep of the weekend.
 
GAME ONE
Albright put two men on base in the top of the first with one out before a pair of strikeouts ended the inning. After a 1-2-3 first inning, the Dutchmen jumped ahead 5-0 in the bottom of the second on four hits. Lebanon Valley scored four of its runs with two out with three of them coming on a triple. Senior shortstop Jimmie Gentry was able to advance to third base in the top of the third with two outs, but was stranded after a strikeout in the ensuing at-bat. The Dutchmen looked to extend its lead in the bottom of the third after loaded the bases against Lions senior starting pitcher Will Tokarski. However, Tokarski battled back with three-straight strikeouts to get out of the jam. Lebanon Valley was able to scratch out a sixth run in the bottom of the fourth on another two-out RBI. Albright finally got on the board in the top of the sixth on a sacrifice fly from senior outfielder Brandon Daubert after junior catcher Dylan Harlos advanced to third with one out. Once again the Dutchmen struck again the following inning with two outs as they got an insurance run off a RBI double. Albright began to rally in the top of the seventh as junior first baseman Josh Jacavage tallied a two-out RBI of his own after Gentry led the inning off with a single. Following a single from junior Will Algard, Daubert roped a two-run double to centerfield to cut the deficit down to 7-4. Unfortunately the Lions, the rally ended in the next at-bat on a strikeout.
 
 
GAME TWO
Following a scoreless first inning from both teams, the Lions put two runners on base with walks before a strikeout ended the threat. Lebanon Valley took the early lead again as they scored three runs on four hits along with one error. Much like the first game, two of the three runs came across the plate with two outs. The two-out rallies continued for the Dutchmen as they extended its lead in the fourth on a two-out triple to make it 4-0, and scored four more runs in the bottom of the fifth with two outs to go up 8-0. Albright loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the sixth, and were finally able to break through on a RBI single from junior outfielder Chris Thomas. Sophomore second baseman Reece Adam drove in a second run to make it 8-2 on a sacrifice fly. Unfortunately for the Lions, the Dutchmen blew open the game in the bottom half of the sixth with nine runs on three hits to go up 17-2. Lebanon Valley sent 15 men to the plate during the inning and took advantage of eight walks. Albright was able to scratch out runs in the eighth and ninth innings to bring the final score to 17-4.
 
In game one, Daubert led the offense by going 2-of-3 from the plate with three RBIs. Jacavage went 2-of-4 from the dish with one RBI while Gentry went 2-of-4 with a run scored. Tokarski suffered the loss after surrendering six runs (all earned) on six hits with five strikeouts and three walks in three innings of work. Junior Jeremy Brubaker relieved Tokarski and tossed the final three innings, allowing one earned run on three hits with two strikeouts. Senior pitcher Ryan Kalinich suffered the loss in game two after allowing seven runs (all earned) on nine hits with three strikeouts in 3.2 innings of work.
 
The Lions will return to action on Saturday, March 20^th as they will travel to face Stevenson in a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m.