BOX SCORE (Game One)
BOX SCORE (Game Two)

Ft. Pierce, Fl. (Mar. 1, 2009) - The Alvernia University (5-2) offense exploded for 28 runs in a doubleheader sweep of Lebanon Valley College (0-2) Sunday afternoon in non-conference baseball action.  The Crusaders scored four runs in the eighth inning to win game one 11-7 and put 17 on the board in game two for a 17-10 win.

Sophomore Reid Martin (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata) tripled and scored as part of the four-run eighth and finished 3-for-5 at the plate with three runs and four RBIs.  Chris Stoudt (West Lawn, Pa./Governor Mifflin) delivered a two-run single with one out in the eighth to break a 7-7 tie.

Alvernia scored three runs in the first and single runs in the third and fifth to take a 5-0 lead, and in the process extend a scoreless streak to 19 innings.

LVC put an end to that streak in style scoring six runs in the sixth on five base hits and an error.

Alvernia responded in the top of the seventh with a pair of runs.  The Crusaders put runners at second and third aided by a walk, an error, and a stole base.  Junior Chris Simoncini (East Berlin, Pa./Bermudian Springs) came through in the clutch with a one-out single down the right field line plating Steve Bealer (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) and Martin.  Simoncini finished the game 2-for-4 with a run scored and three RBIs.

LVC didn't let it end that way scoring a run in the bottom of the seventh with a two-out double, but Alvernia refused to let the win slip away posting four runs in the eighth to make a winner of freshman reliever Andrew Kirk (Media, Pa./Penncrest).  Sophomore Zach Grey (York, Pa./York Catholic) started the game, but ran into trouble in the sixth.

In game two, three straight batters in the Alvernia order, Bealer, Stoudt, and Martin drove in four runs each, and senior leadoff hitter Eric Focht (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus) reached base five times and scored every time.  Bealer finished the game 3-for-5 with three runs scored.

Alvernia fell behind 9-6 as the Dutchmen scored five runs in the second and four more in the third, but Stoudt tripled in a run and scored in the fourth to pull the Crusaders within a run, 9-8.

LVC added to its lead with a single run in the fifth, but Alvernia took control with nine runs in the sixth on just four hits and three LVC errors.

Brian Longo (Uncasville, Conn./Montville) three 3 and 1/3 innings in relief to earn the win.

Alvernia will continue the spring break schedule against another Commonwealth Conference opponent Monday when it faces Elizabethtown College.

Game One - Alvernia 11, Lebanon Valley 7 (8 innings)
Game Two - Alvernia 17, Lebanon Valley 10