ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Friday, May 2, 2008

Etown Falls to Lebanon Valley 9-0 in Softball Tourney After Defeating Widener 2-0 in Opener

Click here for the Widener boxscore
Click here for the LVC boxscore

ANNVILLE, Pa. --- An eight-run fifth inning gave top-seeded host Lebanon Valley College a 9-0 victory over Elizabethtown College in a winners bracket game of the Commonwealth Conference softball tournament on Friday afternoon.

The Blue Jays had advanced earlier in the day with a 2-0 victory over Widener University behind a seven-hitter from senior Alex Lee (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus). They will play on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. against the winner of a 9:00 a.m. elimination game between Widener and Messiah College, with the winner to face Lebanon Valley in the championship round.

Allie Davies hit two home runs for the Dutchmen (26-9 overall), including a walk-off two-run blast in the bottom of the fifth, as Lebanon Valley advanced to the championship game for the fourth time in the last eight years.

Lebanon Valley took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on a solo home run by Davies, and carried the lead through four innings.

In the fifth, the Dutchmen took advantage of three consecutive Blue Jay errors to load the bases with no outs. Chelsea Artz then cleared the bases with a double to right-center to give the Dutchmen a 4-0 lead.

A single by Katie DeJulio pushed the Lebanon Valley lead to 5-0, and Kristen Uhas followed with a two-run single to extend the lead to 7-0. Davies then hit her second home run of the game, a two-run blast to left, to end the contest via the eight-run rule.

Uhas went 2-for-3 with two RBI for the Dutchmen, while Davies finished 2-for-3 with three runs batted in and two runs scored.

Val Malizzia (11-3) picked up the win for the Dutchmen, allowing two hits and striking out six, while Lee (10-12) took the loss after yielding seven runs (one earned) on five hits in four-plus innings of work.

Against Widener, Lee pitched a complete-game seven-hitter and worked out of jams in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings as the Blue Jays avenged a doubleheader sweep by the Pride in their regular-season meeting.

The Blue Jays jumped to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning as junior Marian Guzik (Greensburg, PA/Hempfield Area) led off with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice and scored on a wild pitch.

In the third, junior Lauren Hoover (Reading, PA/Oley Valley) led off with a double off the left-field fence, and came home on a two-out single by first-year student Kelsea Corrado (La Plata, MD/La Plata) that gave the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead.

Widener (30-11 overall) mounted a threat in the fourth inning, putting runners at first and second with two outs, but Lee worked out of the jam by inducing a fielder's choice grounder to end the inning.

The Pride threatened again in the sixth, with runners at first and second with one out. However, Widener was unable to capitalize as Lee got a popup and groundout to escape without any damage.

In the bottom of the seventh, pinch-hitter Kim Dougherty led off with a single to center field, but Lee got the next two outs on a strikeout and a fielder's choice. Caitlin Callahan, who finished 2-for-4, then doubled off the fence in left to put runners on second and third, but Krista Cesarine grounded out to second to end the game.

Sophomore Sarah Church (Aston, PA/Sun Valley) went 2-for-4 for the Blue Jays against Widener, while sophomore Ryan Allard (Londonderry, NH/Londonderry) went 2-for-2 with a double.

Commonwealth Conference Softball Tournament
at Lebanon Valley College

Elizabethtown Coll. 2, Widener University 0
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Elizabethtown Coll.. 101 000 0 - 2 8 1 (12-22)
Widener University.. 000 000 0 - 0 7 0 (30-11)
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Alex Lee and Abbie Merrifield; Mallory Meyer and Katie Mitchell. WP-Lee (10-11). LP-Meyer (12-7). SO-BB: Lee 4-2; Meyer 5-3.

Lebanon Valley Coll. 9, Elizabethtown College 0
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Elizabethtown Coll.. 000 00 - 0 2 3 (12-23)
Lebanon Valley Coll. 010 08 - 9 7 0 (26-9)
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Alex Lee, Lisa Malehorn (5) and Abbie Merrifield; Val Malizzia and Caitlin Keller. WP-Malizzia (10-4). LP-Lee (10-12). SO-BB: Lee 1-0, Malehorn 0-0; Malizzia 6-0. HR-Allie Davies 2 (LV).