Box Score Softball
Commonwealth Conference Tournament Final
#17 Lebanon Valley 2, Alvernia 1

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READING, Pa. - #17 Lebanon Valley clinched its second straight Commonwealth Conference title, beating Alvernia 2-1 to sweep its way through the tournament on Sunday.

The Dutchmen (32-4) relied on tournament Most Outstanding Player Sam Derr's eight-strikeout, six-hit effort to win a tense battle with the Crusaders (18-12), who received an equally strong start from Brittanie Wolfe.

Derr drove in LVC's first run to score Mary Readinger in the third inning, and Allie Hartman's fifth-inning RBI to bring in Sammy Bost proved decisive after Amanda Turner homered for Alvernia in the fourth to tie it.

Lebanon Valley will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, and will learn its assignment Monday during the live selection show at 10 a.m.

"This team had a target on their backs all year long," said head coach Stacey Hollinger, who was named the CC's coach of the year on Thursday. "So when you're up against that all year long, I couldn't be more proud of a group of women who brought it every single day."

With runners on the corners and tied 1-1 in the fifth, Hartman's sharply hit ball to shortstop allowed Bost to score on a play at the plate, with the freshman sliding inches away from Alvernia catcher's Amanda Galanti sweep. For Hollinger, it was the type of play she had prepared the team for heading into the postseason. 

"We talked in the last two days about getting the key hit at the right time, that key play," Hollinger said. "I don't know that anybody else scores that run on an infield hit other than Sammy Bost."

Both teams squandered early chances, each leaving runners on second and third in the first inning, but LVC took the initiative in the third. Readinger led off with a double and went to third on Tessa Deardorff's infield single; she stole second, and Bost struck out but reached on a wild pitch to load the bases with no outs. That was all the incentive Derr needed as she roped a single into left to take the 1-0 lead.

Wolfe worked out of the jam to limit the damage, however, getting a pair of fly outs before getting Katie Deardorff swinging. That helped Alvernia tie it on their first at-bat in the fourth, with Turner grooving a hanging pitch over the left-center fence to make it a 1-1 ballgame.

Lebanon Valley's response came in the fifth. After Tessa Deardorff singled, she was caught stealing with the potential to deflate any momentum the Dutchmen needed. Bost had other ideas, though, tripling to the wall in center to put the go-ahead run on. When Alvernia elected to intentionally walk Derr to get to Hartman, who had been hitless in the tournament to that point, it was the senior's time.

"I knew that it's not every day you intentionally walk me to get to Allie, and I knew she would come up big," Derr said. "She was due all weekend and she ended up doing it for us."

Alvernia never threatened after LVC took the lead. Derr shut the game down with a 1-2-3 sixth, then struck out two in the seventh, getting Rachel Fritz swinging to end the game.
 

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Game Notes
The championship is LVC's third (2008, 2013, 2014) ... The Dutchmen will make their fourth NCAA appearance, after reaching the regional final a year ago ... Sam Derr improved to 22-1 this season and 6-0 in CC postseason play ... She was also the tournament MOP last year ... Bost's go-ahead run also set an LVC single-season record with her 39th of the year ... Katie Deardorff needs one hit to tie and two to surpass the LVC all-time record of 170 ... Derr had a pair of knocks to take her career total to 99 in an LVC jersey. She would be 13th player in program history to record 100 hits ... Wolfe (12-11) struck out three and allowed two runs for Alvernia ... Lebanon Valley reached the final by beating Widener 4-2 in their opener on Friday and Messiah 1-0 on Saturday. Alvernia won back through the loser's bracket after an opening-round loss to Arcadia, winning three in a row to advance to the final.