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

Reading, Pa. (Mar. 26, 2011) - Freshman second basemen Samantha Penk (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown South) gave Alvernia (9-1, 1-1 Comm.) the 8-7 win over Lebanon Valley (10-5, 2-2 Comm.) with a solo shot in the eighth inning in the first game of the day, while the Dutchmen regrouped for a 5-1 victory in the second game.  Penk's homerun was Alvernia's first homerun at Angelica Park since its' 2009 inception.   

In game one, the Dutchmen got on the board first with a run in the top of the second inning thanks to a solo homerun from Allison Hartman.  The Crusaders battled back to take the 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third inning after freshman Katie Manowski (Grasonville, Md./Kent Island) led off the inning with a single and came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Penk.  In the same inning, Miranda Peto (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) got herself aboard thanks to an LVC error and eventually scored on a passed ball.

The Dutchmen were not in the hole for long as they put up five runs, four unearned in the top of the fourth inning for the seemingly comfortable 6-2 lead.  Alvernia again came from behind for three runs in their half of the fourth inning.  After a ground-out, relief pitcher Deanna Dungee (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) connected for a bloop single.  After the second out of the inning, Peto, Penk and Rhiannon Sorrentino (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) went for three singles in a row, with Penk knocking in two and Sorrentino knocking in one to bring Alvernia within one run at 6-5.

Dungee shut down the Dutchmen in the fifth and sixth, while the Crusaders tied the game in the sixth with an RBI-single from Manowski, and took the lead in the sixth inning on an RBI-double from Danielle Kitchen (Saylorsburg, Pa./Pleasant Valley).

With Alvernia now up 7-6 heading into the seventh inning the Dutchmen put together another rally and eventually tied the game on a bases-loaded passed ball.  Dungee and Alvernia escaped further damage in the top of the seventh as Dungee induced a ground ball to end the bases-loaded threat.

The bottom of the seventh and top of the eigth came and went with no scoring from either team.  Penk finally gave Alvernia the 8-7 win with a one-out shot to left-center field that bounced once on the top of the fence, then out for the win.

In the second game of the day Alvernia took a quick 1-0 lead after an RBI-double from Amanda Galanti (Red Bank, NJ/Marine Acad. Sci. Tech) scored Penk in the first inning.  But it would be all LVC from there as they put up two runs in the fifth and three in the sixth. 

Penk and Galanti were both 4-for-7 on the day, while Penk added four RBIs and three runs scored.  Manowski and Sorrentino both had two hits on the day.

The Crusaders will return to action tomorrow when they face Neumann in non-conference action at 1:00pm at home.

Alvernia 8, Lebanon Valley 7 (8 innings)
Lebanon Valley 5, Alvernia 1