Box Score
SELINSGROVE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley College softball team saw its record-breaking 2005 season come to a close Saturday afternoon, as Albright defeated LVC 2-0 in the loser's bracket of the Commonwealth Conference championship tournament, held at Susquehanna University's Sassafras Field.
The loss was the second of the double-elimination tournament for second-seeded Lebanon Valley, which concluded the season 27-12. Seventh-year Head Coach Stacey Hollinger's squad, which finished second in the Commonwealth Conference with an 11-3 mark, shattered the previous single-season school records for wins (19 - 2001) and conference wins (eight – 2001, 2000).
With the win, fourth-seeded Albright (23-15) advanced to the Commonwealth Conference championship game for the first time since 2002 and lost 6-0 to top-seeded Moravian (33-6), which won its fifth straight Commonwealth Conference title.
Sophomore Jenn Roberts registered yet another outstanding performance, but the Lions scored the only two runs of the game on three hits and an error in the top of the seventh. Roberts lost for the first time in six starts and finished the season with a stellar 16-2 record while topping the previous single-season school record for wins (12).
Junior Ashley Young threw a seven-hit shutout and drove in the game-winning run for Albright.
Lebanon Valley out-hit the Lions 7-4 but left eight runners on base and was the victim of an inning-ending double play in the sixth.
After taking a perfect game into the sixth inning in a 3-0 win over Messiah on Friday, Roberts was perfect for the first half of the game against Albright, retiring the first 11 batters she faced. No. 3 hitter Meredith Mayes was the first Lion to reach base when, with two outs in the fourth, her pop-up into shallow right fell between three LVC fielders for a single. After cleanup hitter Meredith Hippert walked, Roberts induced a groundout to get out of the inning.
Roberts retired Albright in order in the fifth and sixth before Mayes led off the seventh with a single to center. Lebanon Valley nearly had two outs and nobody on base after sophomore leftfielder Amy Batz made a shoestring catch in shallow left on a fly ball, then fired it to first to almost catch Mayes going back to the bag.
No. 5 hitter Erica Romond reached on an infield single to put runners on first and second before Young drilled a single into the left-center gap to score Mayes. Roberts leaped and snared a high chopper to get the second out, but an error on the next at-bat allowed Romond to score. Albright's No. 9 hitter struck out to end the inning.
Lebanon Valley rallied in the bottom of the inning, however, and had the go-ahead run at the plate. Senior first baseman Chris Jessen led off with an infield single to second before Young retired the next two batters. But freshman designated hitter Lauren Sanford reached on an infield single to short, putting runners on first and second, before Young got the final out on a pop-up to short.
In the third inning, LVC stranded runners on first and second, then left a runner on third in the fourth. In the sixth, the Valley had two on and one out but a Roberts lineout to second was turned into a 4-3 double play.
Roberts walked one and struck out two, as she tied the single-season strikeout record of 134 originally set by Amy Zellers '00 in 2000. She finished the season with a 1.08 ERA.
Young walked one and struck out four.
Sophomore third baseman Jenn Parks went 2-for-3 at the plate for LVC.
Commonwealth Conference
2005 Softball Championship
Friday, May 6
Game 1 – #1 Moravian 6, #4 Albright 0
Game 2 – #2 Lebanon Valley 3, #3 Messiah 0
Game 3 – #1 Moravian 7, #2 Lebanon Valley 0
Saturday, May 7
Game 4 – #4 Albright 8, #3 Messiah 3
Game 5 – #4 Albright 2, #2 Lebanon Valley 0
Game 6 – #1 Moravian 6, #4 Albright 0
[Photo - Sophomore Jenn Parks, who had two hits in Lebanon Valley's 2-0 loss to Albright on Saturday]
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