BOX SCORE (Game One)
BOX SCORE (Game Two)
Portions of this story provided by Marywood Sports Information
Scranton, Pa. (Apr. 3, 2007) – Sophomore hurler Emily Williams (Minersville, PA/Nativity BVM) struck out 10 in the opener and Alvernia posted an eight-run fourth inning in the nightcap in a doubleheader sweep, 4-3 and 15-7, at Marywood University Tuesday afternoon in Pennsylvania Athletic Conference softball action.
Junior second baseman Jackie Rhoads (Dillsburg, PA/Northern York) went 3-for-4 with three RBIs in the opener and knocked in five more on two hits in game two. The first six players in the Alvernia lineup scored at least two runs in the nightcap led by senior leadoff Suzanne Fox (Glassboro, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) who crossed the plate three times and finished the game 4-for-4 at the plate.
After Marywood's Nikki Belles struck out six of the first nine Crusader batters in the opener, Alvernia ripped four singles in a row in the top of the third to grab a 2-0 lead. Jackie Rhoads' 2-RBI single to right field scored Janelle Lynch (Macungie, PA/Brandywine Heights) and Fox with one out before Belles settled down to strand two more Crusaders at second and third.
Marywood cut the Crusader lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth on a Mindy Minnick RBI single to left field and grabbed a 3-2 lead on Karyn Kollonige's two-out 2-run homer over the right field fence.
Lynch hit a game-tying double down the left-field line to score Fox all the way from first in the top of the seventh and Williams followed with a double to center to score Lynch to give the Crusaders the 4-3 lead. Williams struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh to pick up her seventh win of the year. Williams (7-3) finished the opener with 10 strikeouts while Belles finished with seven for the Pacers.
Rhoads and Williams each finished the opener going 3-4 at the plate with Rhoads picking up 3 RBI. Kollonige led the Pacers by going 2-3 with a homer and 2 RBI, while Erika Cook went 2-3 with a double.
In the nightcap, after falling behind 1-0 in the first, Marywood's Nicole Carroll opened the bottom of the second with one of her two triples to right-center on the day and would score two pitches later on a passed ball to tie the game. The Pacers took a 3-1 lead after Caity Hadzimichalis ripped a single to center, and Ashley Williams' fly to right was dropped to allow two more Pacers to score for a 5-1 Marywood lead.
Alvernia used an 8-run inning in the top of the fourth to grab a 9-5 lead. After hitting three straight singles to load the bases, two straight walks made it 5-3. Fox's single to left and a two-base error cleared the bases as the Crusaders took a 6-5 lead. Rhoads then smacked an RBI single to score two more runs, and Williams followed with an RBI double to make it 9-5.
Marywood responded with one run in the bottom half of the inning on a Hadzimichalis single to center which scored Colleen Regan. With the bases loaded and two out, Williams returned to the mound for Alvernia and picked up a big strikeout to thwart the Pacer comeback attempt. The Crusaders would add two insurance runs in the top of the sixth and four more in the seventh two 2-RBI doubles by Rhoads and Beth Jablonowski (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) and to make it 15-6.
Fox led the Crusaders in the second game, going 4-4 with a triple, three singles and 3 RBI. Rhoads finished 2-5 with 5-RBI and a double, while Jablonowski went 4-5 with a double and 2-RBI. Hadzimichalis led the Pacers, going 3-4 with 3 RBI.
Game One - Alvernia 4, Marywood 3
Game Two - Alvernia 15, Marywood 7
