Lebanon Valley 10, Alvernia 4

LVC Lineup: 1. Edwards (2B), 2. Puglisi (CF), 3. Albright (C), 4. Fundell (1B), 5. Kiessling (3B), 6. Orlando (DH), 7. Z. Smith (SS), 8. Marcelli (LF), 9. Harned (RF), Houseal (SP)

Alvernia Lineup: 1. Sides (SS), 2. Cunningham (2B), 3. Esposito (LF), 4. Burns (DH), 5. Coons (1B), 6. Dubas (RF), 7. Catchmark (3B), 8. Bertolotti (C), 9. IacoBellis (CF), Backlund (SP)

How It Happened
Behind terrific starting pitching and an explosion of offense, Lebanon Valley stopped Alvernia's eight-game win streak and defeated the conference's top squad 10-4 in a pivotal MAC Commonwealth contest on Friday afternoon at McGill Field. With the victory, the Dutchmen improved to 13-16, 6-7 MAC Commonwealth, while the Crusaders fell to 19-12, 10-3 MAC Commonwealth.

To go along with the big win, LVC's Zac Edwards eclipsed the 100-career hit mark this afternoon, joining teammate Zach Smith, who accomplished the feat earlier this season.

In the bottom of the third, Michael Puglisi broke the 0-0 tie when he roped a double to left field that scored Edwards for the 1-0 lead. Colin Albright then singled through the left side to plate Puglisi and extend the advantage to 2-0. Then in the fourth, the Dutchmen added to their lead when Josh Marcelli hit a double to the left-center gap that scored Z. Smith to make it 3-0. Later in the inning, Edwards singled through the left side for his 100th career hit that scored Marcelli for the 4-0 lead. Puglisi would add a sacrifice fly as well to make it a 5-0 game in the bottom of the fourth.

Michael Houseal was cruising along until the top of the fifth when Nathan Sides hit an RBI-single and Mike Cunningham hit a sacrifice fly to bring Alvernia to within three at 5-2. Chris Burns then hit an RBI-single to left center to make it 5-3.

In the bottom of the fifth, however, LVC answered when Z. Smith singled to right-center to score Brett Fundell, and Nick O'Shea hit a pinch-hit single through the left side to score Greg Orlando, increasing the Dutchmen's lead to four at 7-3. Puglisi later reached on an error that scored Z. Smith to make it 8-3 and Albright walked with the bases juiced to make it 9-3.

In the seventh, Ian Shaffer led off the frame with a pinch-hit solo homer to left field, but Houseal once again limited the damage and held the Crusaders to just one run in the inning. In the home half of the seventh, Josh Marcelli put the finishing touches on the impressive win with a home run to left field, as LVC went on to win by a 10-4 margin.

At the Plate
 - Edwards finished the day going 3-for-5 with an RBI for LVC.
 - Z. Smith filled out the stat sheet by going 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.
 - Marcelli went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBI, while Orlando added two hits for the Dutchmen.
 - As a team, LVC banged out 16 hits compared to Alvernia's nine.

On the Mound
 - Houseal went the distance in the victory, as he scattered nine hits and gave up four runs to go along with three punch outs.

Who's Next?
The Dutchmen are right back at it tomorrow when they travel to finish the regular-season series with the Crusaders in a double header. Game one is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m.