Game 1 Box Score Game 2 Box Score
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Junior Jenn Roberts twirled a four-hit shutout and drove in the game’s only run to lead the Lebanon Valley College softball team to a 1-0 win over defending conference champion Moravian College in the first game of a Commonwealth Conference doubleheader Sunday afternoon in a battle of two of the league’s top three teams.
Moravian (22-4, 7-1 CC) won the nightcap 6-0. Both teams suffered their first conference loss of the season, as LVC came into the game 4-0 in the Commonwealth while Moravian was 6-0.
Lebanon Valley (19-5, 5-1 CC) snapped the Greyhounds’ 16-game winning streak with its Game One victory. It was LVC’s first win at Moravian since a 7-6 victory in 2001. With the split, the Valley has equaled the program’s best record through 24 games, as LVC was also 19-5 last season.
Roberts found herself facing a familiar foe in the first game, when she took on Moravian starting pitcher Megan Hennessy in the fourth career match-up between the two. She allowed one baserunner in each of the first three innings, but she stranded all three. After a leadoff single in the third, Roberts retired the next nine batters.
Hennessy was just as tough in the early going, retiring the first nine LVC batters. Sophomore Lauren Sanford led off the fourth with a single and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from senior Lisa DiCristofaro, but after a two-out walk Hennessy got out of it with a ground-out.
LVC finally broke through the top of the sixth. Sanford got things going again, leading off with a walk before DiCristofaro bunted her over again. Sanford moved to third on a ground-out and after junior Jenn Parks worked her second straight walk, Roberts followed up with a single up the middle to bring home Sanford from second.
Moravian threatened in the bottom of the inning, getting a leadoff double from leadoff hitter Erica Klepeisz. She was moved to third on a sac bunt, but Roberts snared a liner back in the box before getting a fly-out to end the inning. She then retired the side in order in the seventh to get her third shutout of the season.
Roberts (6-2), who won her third game in a row, walked none and struck out five. Hennessy allowed only three hits but walked four. She fanned seven.
Hennessy (14-2) also got the nod in the second game, and this time she blanked LVC on a two-hit, no-walk, eight-strikeout performance. Moravian provided her with all the run support she would need when the Greyhounds scored one run on two hits and a sac bunt in the first against LVC starter Kelly O’Toole.
O’Toole, who was facing Hennessy for the third time in her career, shut out Moravian over the next three innings before the ’Hounds rallied in the fifth, scoring twice on three hits. The home team tacked on three more in the sixth against LVC reliever Alisa Albers.
In 4 2/3 innings, O’Toole (5-2) yielded three runs on seven hits while striking out one and walking none. She finished 2-for-3 at the plate.
Lebanon Valley returns to action on Thursday, when it hosts Widener University at 3:30 p.m. in another Commonwealth Conference doubleheader.
[Photo - Sophomore Lauren Sanford, who scored the game's only run in LVC's 1-0 win over Moravian on Sunday]
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