Looking for a repeat of its 2013 championship, #15 Lebanon Valley heads to Alvernia this weekend for the Commonwealth Conference Softball Championship.

Tournament Schedule
The tournament is a double-elimination format. All games are seven innings with no international tiebreaker used. The home team through game #6 is the higher seed; in game #7 it is the loser of game #5, and in game #8 it is the winner of game #5. The winner receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Friday, May 2
Game #1: [4] Alvernia vs. [5] Arcadia, 10 a.m.
Game #2: [2] Lebanon Valley vs. [3] Widener, 12 p.m.
Game #3: Winner Game #1 vs. [1] Messiah, 2 p.m.
Game #4: Loser Game #1 vs. Loser Game #2, 4 p.m.

Saturday, May 3
Game #5: Winner Game #2 vs. Winner Game #3, 11 a.m.
Game #6: Winner Game #4 vs. Loser Game #3, 1 p.m.
Game #7: Winner Game #5 vs. Loser Game #5, 3 p.m.

Sunday, May 4
Game #8: Winner Game #5 vs. Winner Game #7, 1 p.m.
Game #9: Winner Game #5 vs. Winner Game #7, 3 p.m. (if necessary)

If You Go
The tournament is being held at Alvernia University's Angelica Park. Daily tickets are $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, and $3 for students; all-session tickets are $10/$8/$5 with all children under 6 free. [Directions]   

The Match-Up
LVC, making its 11th CC tournament appearance and hunting for its third title overall, will open the tournament against Widener, a team it swept early in the regular-season 5-4 in 8 innings and 13-2 in 5 innings. Sam Derr took the win in game one in a tough battle against Widener's Alexis Schengrund, while Haley Neff was the game two winner, two-hitting the Pride as LVC supported her with 14 hits.

At The Plate
The Dutchmen combine power and speed at the plate to hit .324 and slug .440 as a team in 2014. Freshman Sammy Bost, hitting in the two-hole, leads LVC with a .476 average, recording a team-high 50 hits and 36 runs. Katie Deardorff, who hits sixth or seventh, has been LVC's hottest bat of late with a .430 average and 19 runs scored; at 166 career hits, she is chasing the program record of 170. Her sister, Tessa Deardorff, leads off with a .361 average and 28 runs scored. The heart of LVC's order has produced most of LVC's runs this season, with Sam Derr heating up in the last two weeks to slug .600 with a team-best 33 RBI and three home runs; clean-up hitter Allie Hartman (.327/.407/.469) has 24 RBI and eight doubles and 13 walks, while catcher Emily Johnson is slugging .574 as she's raised her average to .340 with 19 RBI.

In The Circle
LVC features one of the nation's best pitchers in Sam Derr, who has a CC-best 0.88 ERA and 19-1 record. The 2013 CC Pitcher of the Year and CC Tournament Most Outstanding Player shuts opponents down with a .225 average and has 12 shutouts this season with 102 strikeouts. Derr went 3-0 in last year's tournament, starting each game to lead LVC to the title. Haley Neff (9-3, 2.37) and Holly Langdon (1-0, 2.40) are LVC's other options, with Neff seeing 13 starts with a shutout this season and Langdon appearing three times with two starts.