Box Score
ANNVILLE, Pa. - #9 Messiah used a four-run fourth inning to claim a 4-2 win over #23 Lebanon Valley in the Championship game of the Commonwealth Conference Softball Tournament Saturday afternoon. Junior
Meghan Donoghue went 2-for-3 at the plate and senior
Kristen Uhas scored both runs for the Dutchmen.
The Falcons (35-7) earned the CC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, while the Dutchmen (31-11) await the NCAA selection show for an at-large bid. The selection show will air via webstream on NCAA.com on Monday, May 10 at 12 p.m.
Lebanon Valley struck first, scoring two runs in the first inning of the game. Sophomore
Kristen Palmerio hit a single to left field and Donoghue continued with a single to left center. With two outs, Uhas hit a single to right, scoring both runners. Freshman
Steffani Secola then hit a single to put two runners on, but a strikeout ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, Messiah opened with a single. Another player reached base after being hit by a pitch, and a sacrifice bunt moved both runners. A single from Lindsay Hall scored one run and a triple to right center by Ashley Lehman scored two more runners. Junior
Val Malizzia relieved classmate
Laura Snyder with two outs in the inning. A single to center by Abi Buchler scored the final run before a foul flyout ended the inning.
Messiah pitcher and tournament MVP Jessica Rhoads held LVC to just one hit for the remainder of the game for the victory.
Snyder (13-5) pitched three and two-thirds innings and struck out two, while Malizzia finished the game.
vs. Widener
Box Score
Katie Freeman went 3-for-3 with three RBI and three runs, including a first-inning home run, as #23 Lebanon Valley run-ruled Widener, 8-0 (5), to advance in the Commonwealth Conference Championship Tournament on Saturday.
LVC will now face #9 Messiah in game 6 Saturday afternoon; a Messiah win would clinch them the title, while an LVC win would force a decisive game 7.
Malizzia (16-4) twirled a two-hitter and faced just two over the minimum through five in an efficient outing helped by some superb defense, including
Caitlin Keller's pickoff of Cait Callahan in the first.
She was backed up by LVC's bats, led by Freeman, who bombed a two-run homer to dead center in the first, then drove in another run in the third. Secola drove in a three-run double in the third to break the game open, and then singled in Freeman for the eighth run in the fifth.
