Alfred 4, Lebanon Valley 3
PHOTO GALLERYLVC Lineup1. Deardorff lf, 2. Brown dp, 3. Bost cf, 4. Johnson c, 5. Miller ss, 6. Dutton 1b, 7. Gross rf, 8. Robinson 3b, 9. Aumiller 2b, Neff p
Alfred Lineup1. Jauregui rf, 2. Thompson 3b, Torchia 2b, 4. Wickwire p, 5. Maher ss, 6. Picini dp, 7. Chiavatti 1b, 8. Passuite c, 9. Hampton cf, Schaefer lf
How It Happened Lebanon Valley showed its heart in a 4-3 loss to #15 Alfred on day one of the NCAA tournament's regional round, battling back from a four-run, first-inning deficit before falling by the slimmest of margins to the region host.
The Flying Dutchmen (17-23) had opportunities to tie the score or take the lead late but stranded a pair of runners on base in the sixth and one on second to end the game.
Elaine Gross single and advanced to second on
Alissa Robinson's ground ball and
Tessa Deardorff walked with two away in the sixth while Johnson reached second on an overthrow by Alfred pitcher Kerri Keeler in the seventh. Each time, however, the home team managed to work out of trouble.
After the Saxons (36-4) tallied four two-out runs in the bottom of the first inning, LVC methodically chipped away over the next few innings, plating one in the fourth and two more in the fifth.
Jasmine Dutton singled with one down in the top of the fourth and
Elaine Gross moved her to third when she hammered a double to deep left field.
Jorey Aumiller singled through the left side of the infield to drive in Dutton and get the Dutchmen on the board.
Cheyanne Brown was hit by a pitch to lead off the fifth stanza and
Sammy Bost's groundout moved her to second.
Emily Johnson ripped a single to right field and advanced to third when the Alfred defender misplayed the ball.
Jordyn Miller's ensuing sacrifice fly to center field was deep enough to push Johnson across and LVC pulled to within one at 4-3.
Inside the Circle-
Haley Neff (11-12) allowed just six hits, four of which came in the bottom of the first inning, and two walks. She struck out three batters and retired the Saxons in order in two innings.
- Alison Wickwire (11-3) earned the victory despite being chased from the game in the sixth inning. She allowed two earned runs on eight hits and one hit-by-pitch.
- Kerri Keeler got the two-inning save for Alfred, throwing the game's final two frames. She surrendered just one walk and gave up no hits.
At the Plate-
Elaine Gross was perfect at the dish, finishing 3-for-3 with a double. Hers was the team's only extra-base hit of the game.
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Cheyanne Brown,
Sammy Bost,
Emily Johnson,
Jasmine Dutton, and
Jorey Aumiller accounted for the rest of LVC's hits, each singling once.
- Johnson, Aumiller, and
Jordyn Miller drove in one run apiece for the Dutchmen.
- Alfred's Sophia Chiavatti was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI while Nicole Maher also finished 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.
- Lebanon Valley put the ball in play all game as only three of the Dutchmen's 29 at-bats ended with strikeouts.
Around the Diamond- Alfred committed three errors but gave up just one unearned run. The Dutchmen were clean defensively.
- Neither team attempted to steal a base.
-
Tessa Deardorff and
Cheyanne Brown accounted for LVC's free bases on the day with Deardorff working the team's only walk and Brown being hit by a pitch.
- As expected, first baseman
Jasmine Dutton had a team-high eight putouts but
Jorey Aumiller saw plenty of action at second, recording four putouts and assisting on three more.
Next UpLVC takes on Penn State Behrend in an elimination game tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. If the Dutchmen emerge victorious, they'll face the loser of Saturday's opener between Rowan/Alfred in another elimination matchup at 3 p.m.
