Softball
Lebanon Valley 5, Elizabethtown 1 – Game One
Elizabethtown 5, Lebanon Valley 3 – Game Two

Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – #23 Lebanon Valley softball split a Commonwealth Conference doubleheader with Elizabethtown Thursday afternoon. The Dutchmen took game one by a 5-1 score and fell 5-3 in the nightcap. The Blue Jays win snapped LVC's win streak at 14 games, the longest streak in program history.

With the win in game one, the Dutchmen secured a spot in the conference tournament, beginning on May 6 at Alvernia.

Katie Freeman paced the Dutchmen in game one, going 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI. Kristen Palmerio scored two runs in the win and went on to go 3-for-3 at the plate in the second contest.

GAME ONE
Leadoff batter Katie Deardorff opened the game with a walk and scored off a single down the right field line by Freeman.

A four-run second inning pushed Lebanon Valley's lead to five runs. Alexa Maddy hit a double to right center and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. An error put Chelsea Kehr on first, while Palmerio scored both runners on a double to left center. Palmerio then crossed home plate after a single to center by Meghan Donoghue, and the final run of the inning came off a double by Freeman.

The Dutchmen had a runner in scoring position in the third and seventh innings, but tough defense by the Blue Jays stranded the base runners.

Limited to just four hits in the game, Elizabethtown broke up the shutout with a solo home run from Elly McCarthy in the seventh.

Laura Snyder tossed the complete game, allowing one run on four hits and striking out nine.

GAME TWO
The teams traded runs in the first inning for a 1-1 tie. Deardorff hit a single to start and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. A single from Donoghue moved Deardorff to third, and she scored off a single by Freeman.

Elizabethtown took a 2-1 lead in the third inning, with a run scoring off a single through the right side by Lindsey Cooper. The Blue Jays pushed their lead to four with three runs in the fourth inning. Elizabethtown threatened again in the fifth and sixth innings, but LVC held the runners.

Lebanon Valley struck in the sixth inning, scoring two runs to cut Elizabethtown's advantage to two runs. Freeman led the inning off with a single and Allison Hartman notched a double down the left field line. Marisa Krause's sacrifice fly scored Freeman, and another sacrifice fly by Steffani Secola sent Hartman home.

Palmerio reached base in the seventh with a two-out single, but a line out ended the inning.

Val Malizzia started in the circle, pitching three and two-thirds innings. She surrendered five runs on eight hits and struck out four in the loss. Snyder pitched the remainder and retired four batters.

LVC returns to action Tuesday at 3 p.m., hosting Wilkes for a non-conference doubleheader.