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LVC vs. Elizabethtown Box Score
Championship Site
ANNVILLE, Pa. - Senior Jess Salisbury smashed a walk-off RBI single into the right-center gap to help Lebanon Valley College claim its first-ever Commonwealth Conference softball title with a dramatic come-from-behind, 4-3 victory over Elizabethtown College Saturday.
The Dutchmen (27-9) earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and will begin regional play on Thursday at a site to be determined. The field will be announced late Sunday or early Monday.
Lebanon Valley was making its fourth appearance in the conference final, but lost all three previous tries against Moravian. The Dutchmen cruised into the final with a pair of 9-0, 5-inning victories against Messiah and E-town on Friday.
The Blue Jays (13-24) advanced to the championship with a dramatic 1-0, 10-inning win over Messiah in game 5; Messiah had gotten there with a 6-2 win over Widener in the morning's first game.
"It was a joy I can't explain," said an elated Salisbury of her walk-off winner. "It was like nothing I've ever felt."
Salisbury claimed tournament MVP honors on a weekend with so many heroes for LVC, including freshman pitcher Laura Snyder, who won two games, and sophomore Allie Davies, who hit two home runs on Friday including a walk-off to beat Elizabethtown the first time.
In the circle, Elizabethtown senior pitcher Alex Lee was outstanding, pitching 16 straight scoreless innings for the day including her complete-game, 10-inning shutout of Messiah in game 5. Snyder struck out 11 and allowed three hits for LVC to win her 14th game.
LVC scored all four of their runs in the bottom of the seventh with a string of hits after Lee put her side ahead with a three-run home run - her first career hit - in the fifth.
It appeared LVC and E-town would head for a decisive game 7, but the Dutchmen came alive in the bottom of the seventh, stringing together six hits to manufacture their four runs.
"I prefer they don't wait that long for a rally, but they felt it," laughed Head Coach Stacey Hollinger. "They just always felt like they had a chance. It's amazing what happens when you get a couple going and get some momentum. These kids seem to thrive off it."
Caitlin Keller started the rally with a lead-off double, and after Meghan Donoghue popped up to second, Katie Freeman smacked a key pinch-hit double to plate Keller for LVC's first run. Chelsea Artz followed with her own double to score Freeman, and Lauren Sanford singled to put runners on first and third with one out.
Katie DeJulio then singled in Artz for the tying run, and Kristen Uhas' walk to load the bases set up Salisbury, who rifled a ball to the fence to score Sanford and claim the championship.
"It was a big game, and we were all kind of tight," Salisbury said. "After [Keller's] hit though, we just felt it."
The game looked to be another pitcher's duel in the early going, with Snyder striking out six in a row during one stretch in the early innings. After giving up a lead-off single to Marian Guzik, Snyder did not allow a baserunner until she walked Paige Tanner in the fifth.
Lee, meanwhile, relied on some excellent defense, getting out of several jams early on. In the first, Uhas appeared ground out, but E-town instead caught Sanford, the lead runner, in a rundown before nailing Uhas at second for an inning-ending double play. In the sixth, the Blue Jays again turned two to end the inning when Davies grounded to second to strand a runner at second.
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