Game 1 Box Score Game 2 Box Score
ANNVILLE, Pa. – Freshman Alisa Albers (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) threw a three-hit shutout in the opener and Messiah rallied for an 11-9, 12-inning win the nightcap as Lebanon Valley split a Commonwealth Conference doubleheader with the Falcons on Wednesday at the LVC Softball Park.
Senior Amanda Potteiger (Halifax, Pa./Halifax) drove in the game-winning run in the last at-bat with a pinch-hit double in the first game as Lebanon Valley (7-12, 3-7 CC) scored a 1-0 victory in a pitcher's duel between Albers and Messiah senior Jaime Batchelor. The game lasted just 1:22.
The nightcap was the exact opposite, as Messiah (16-11, 2-4 CC) rallied from a 7-4 deficit in the seventh to force extra innings, then pushed across the go-ahead runs in the 12th in a game that spanned nearly three hours.
Sophomore Boo Mumma led all players with a 4-for-7 effort at the plate.
Batchelor (5-5) gave up just one earned run in 12 1/3 innings over the two games for the Falcons. She threw a four-hit complete game in a losing effort in the opener, then hurled another six innings in relief while picking up the win in the nightcap.
Albers (3-1) was brilliant in game one. She faced the minimum amount of batters through the first five innings and carried a no-hitter into the sixth. But with two outs, junior Angela Munchel reached on an infield hit, just beating the throw of LVC shortstop Casey McCool (Spring Mills, Pa./Penns Valley). Munchel lined a pitch off Albers' leg but McCool tracked it down and made a strong throw to first.
Messiah put runners on first and second with two outs in the seventh after hitting a pair of singles but Albers escaped by forcing junior Amanda Robinson into an inning-ending groundout.
Batchelor was just as impressive for Messiah and took a three-hit shutout into the seventh. But that's when sophomore Gina Battistelli (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) led off by reaching on an error, and two batters later she scored from second when Potteiger lofted her game-winning double into the right-center gap.
Albers' shutout was the first of her collegiate career. She walked only one, struck out two and prevented Messiah from hitting the ball into the outfield until the seventh inning.
Batchelor struck out five and walked one in the opener.
In the second game, Lebanon Valley took a 4-2 lead after a four-run, four-hit third. Junior Kristin Crouse (Columbia, Pa./Columbia) and freshman Abbey Gearhart (Annville, Pa./Annville-Cleona) each drove in a run to tie the game at 2-2 before Potteiger delivered a two-run double.
The Falcons added a run in the fourth and fifth innings to pull even at 4-4 before senior Amanda Stevenson (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) drilled a bases-clearing, pinch-hit double in the fifth to give the Valley a 7-4 lead.
Messiah put together a five-hit, three-run seventh against LVC reliever Michelle Norman (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon) to force extra innings.
Neither team scored in the eighth or ninth innings and the international tie-breaking rules came into effect starting in the 10th, after which each team led off by placing a runner on second base. Messiah took advantage of the extra runner in the 10th, when it scored twice on three hits to take a 9-7 lead. But LVC responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame.
Lebanon Valley threatened again the bottom of the 11th but left the bases loaded. Messiah put the game away in the 12th, scoring twice on one hit and two errors in the top of the inning before Batchelor retired the Valley in order in the bottom of the frame.
Crouse went 3-for-6 in the nightcap for LVC while Mumma, senior Michal Chaffinch and junior April Frye ripped three hits apiece to lead a 19-hit attack for Messiah.
The Falcons left 12 runners on base while LVC stranded 10.
Norman (0-4) suffered the loss in the nightcap.
Lebanon Valley returns to action on Thursday with a non-conference doubleheader at Gettysburg College beginning at 4 p.m.
[Photo - Freshman Alisa Albers, who threw a three-hit shutout against Messiah on Wednesday]
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