GAME 1 BOX SCORE
GAME 2 BOX SCORE
Tuesday March 4, 2008 (Orlando, FL) - The Crusaders began their day on the losing end of a three-hour, eleven inning marathon with Rochester College (MI), but rebounded to take game two by a score of 6-4. The first game saw the score knotted at one apiece for seven innings until both teams added a run in the tenth inning. Rochester finally put the game out of reach in the eleventh inning as they added five runs. The second game was a back and forth affair with Alvernia finally pushing across three runs in the top of the seventh for the win.
The Crusaders got on the board first in game one when senior
Jackie Rhoads (Dillsburg, PA/Northern York) stole home after reaching on a hit by pitch. The 1-0 lead would hold until the fourth inning when Rochester tied the game thanks to two Crusader errors and a successful double steal.
Niether team would cross the plate again until the top of the tenth inning. With both teams now in international tie-breaker a runner was placed on second base. After a sacrifice bunt and a single Rochester found themselves with the 2-1 lead. Alvernia held on and escaped a bases loaded situation when pitcher
Emily Williams (Minersville, PA/Nativity) forced two fly outs.
Alvernia battled back in their half of the tenth inning when
Michelle Jensen (Holland, NJ/Delaware Valley) laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance
Janelle Lynch (Macungie, PA/Brandywine) who was placed on second base. Rhoads followed with a sacrifice fly to left field to tie the game once again.
The eleventh inning began innocently enough with a sac bunt and a single to score one run for Rochester. An error by Jensen at second base put runners on first and second and two singles would plate two more for Rochester. Williams forced a strike out for the second out of the inning, but Rochester capitalized on another Alvernia error as a rising line drive escaped Lynch in left field to score two runs.
The Crusaders pushed one run across in their half of the eleventh with an RBI single from freshman
Dina Chiappelli (Shippensburg, PA/Shippensburg).
Alvernia recovered from their three hour game to take Rochester in the second game 6-4. They jumped out to an early lead in the first inning thanks to an RBI single by
Samantha Geisinger (Thurmont, MD/Catoctin). Rochester would tie it in the second inning. Alvernia went ahead again in the fourth inning when
Rhiannon Sorrentino (Whitehall, PA, Whitehall) ripped a grounder to the shortstop, forcing an error and
Shannon Higgins (Blue Bell, PA/Wissahickan) who led off the inning with a single came around to score. Rochester once again battled and tied it at two in their half of the fourth inning.
The fifth inning was more of the same when Alvernia went ahead 3-2 on a single by Dina Chiapelli (Shippensburg, PA/Shippensburg) and Rochester quickly answered with two runs of their own to go ahead 4-3. The seventh inning arrived with Alvernia still down 4-3 and after a lead-off walk and a sacrifice bunt they seem poised to even the score. Senior
Shannon Higgins (Blue Bell, PA/Wissahickan) knocked in the tying run and an error by the shortstop would bring across two more for Alvernia. The bottom of the seventh was three up, three down and Alvernia won the battle 6-4.
With the split Alvernia remains above .500 at 3-2 and will take on Susquehanna University and Malone College tomorrow in a double header beginning at 11:30 am.
Rochester 7, Alvernia 3
Alvernia 6, Rochester 4