Game 2 Box Score Game 3 Box Score
ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley College softball team went 1-1 Friday afternoon at Day One of the Commonwealth Conference Softball Championships, hosted by Lebanon Valley College at the LVC Softball Park.
In Game Two of the double-elimination tournament, second seed LVC (14-19) beat third seed Susquehanna 4-0 behind a five-hit shutout by freshman Jenn Roberts (East Petersburg, Pa./Hempfield). But in Game Three, the Valley fell to top seed and seventh-ranked Moravian (33-3) 8-0 in a game that was shortened to five innings due to the eight-run rule.
Moravian defeated four seed Juniata (20-12) 5-3 in Game One.
Juniata and Susquehanna will now play in Game Four at 9:00 on Saturday morning back at the LVC Softball Park. The winner will take on LVC at 11 a.m. in Game Five, and the winner of that contest will move on the championship game to face Moravian at 1 p.m. Should Moravian lose that game, the same teams would meet in a seventh and deciding game at 3 p.m.
Against Susquehanna, LVC, making its first Commonwealth playoff appearance since 2001, gave Roberts all the offense she would need when the Flying Dutchmen pushed across an unearned run in the bottom of the first. Freshman Audrey Benner (Leola, Pa./Conestoga Valley) reached on an error to lead off the inning, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from senior Kristin Crouse (Columbia, Pa./Columbia) and scored on single down the leftfield line by freshman Amy Batz (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest).
The Valley tacked on three more runs in the fifth inning. Junior Gina Battistelli (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) doubled with one out, and scored three batters later on an RBI-single from Batz. Freshman Jenn Parks (Monroeville, N.J./Woodstown) made it 4-0 on the next at-bat when she popped a two-run single into rightfield.
Susquehanna threatened in the top of the seventh, putting runners on second and third with one out. But Roberts retired the final two batters of the game to earn her nine complete game and fourth shutout of the season. She walked only one and struck out four to pick up her second shutout of the year against the Crusaders, who have scored just one run in three games and none in their last 20 innings this season against LVC.
Benner finished 2-for-3 with two runs against SU while Batz was also 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs.
Freshman Kelly McHale was charged with the loss for the Crusaders. McHale (2-3) started and worked 4 2/3 innings while allowing all four LVC runs (three earned) on seven hits. She walked none and struck out none.
In Game Three of the Tournament, Moravian jumped to a 1-0 lead on a single and a triple in the bottom of the first against Roberts, who started once again in the circle.
That run would prove to be all the offense Greyhound starter Donna Weiner would need. Weiner (14-1), who won her 14th straight game since losing Moravian's season-opener, tossed a three-hit, five-innning shutout. She walked none and struck out two. Twelve of Weiner's outs were fly-ball outs.
The Greyhounds added three runs on three hits and two errors against Roberts in the third to make it a 4-0 game. Moravian ended the game by scoring four unearned runs on five hits and one error in the fifth against LVC reliever Alisa Albers (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin).
Moravian out-hit LVC 11-3 in the game. The Dutchmen were charged with four errors, tying a season-high.
Roberts (6-10) suffered the loss in Game Three.
2004 MAC Commonwealth Conference Championships
Day Two
Game 4: No. 4 Juniata vs. No. 3 Susquehanna, 9 a.m.
Game 5: Winner of Game 4 vs. No. 2 Lebanon Valley, 11 a.m.
Game 6: Winner of Game 5 vs. Moravian, 1 p.m.
Game 7: Winner of Game 5 vs. Moravian, if necessary, 3 p.m.
[Photo - Freshman Jenn Roberts, who threw a five-hit shutout against Susquehanna in the Commonwealth Conference playoffs Friday afternoon at the LVC Softball Park]
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