Reading, Pa. (Mar. 15, 2012) - On Thursday afternoon the Alvernia University (10-2) softball team swept their double header against cross town rival Penn State Berks (0-8). The Crusaders took the first game by a score of 5-1 and then poured it on in the second game 12-2.

The first game saw dominant pitching from starter Deanna Dungee (North Wales, Pa./North Penn). Dungee went all seven innings and gave up one run on five hits. She also struck out eight Berks batters while walking just one.

Dungee, a junior, said "I thought I threw the ball pretty good. I was going with my screwball a lot and getting them on the inside corner and it seemed to be really working. I had my defense behind me and our offense did well and we did what we had to do to win." Last week Dungee earned ECAC pitcher of the week.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, cleanup hitter first baseman Danielle Kitchen (Saylorsburg, Pa./Pleasant Valley) hit a towering homerun over the centerfield wall to push the lead to 4-1. Kitchen finished the first game 1-for-3.

Kitchen started in the circle for game two. She pitched just one inning and surrendered two runs on four hits.

In the second inning, Kitchen gave way to freshman Brittanie Wolfe (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove Area). Wolfe helped out her teammate out of a jam and proceeded to go the rest of the game without giving up another run. Facing a total of 12 Berks batters, Wolfe kept the her pitches down in the zone and was able to work six ground ball outs.

The Alvernia offense was able to tag Berks starting pitcher Britney Nelson for 12 runs on 10 hits before the eight run mercy rule was applied in the top of the fifth inning. Notable contributions to the offense were junior Miranda Peto (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville), sophomore Samantha Penk (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown South) and senior Diane Lightner (Gaithersburg, Md./Acad. of the Holy Cross).

Peto led off the game with a walk, a stolen base and finally scored on a passed ball. She finished 2-2 with a walk and 3 runs scored. Penk went 1-1 with two walks, 2 RBI, three runs scored and capped her day off with a three-RBI in the park home run. Senior catcher Lightner was 2-3 with three RBIs and line drive home run to left center.

With the victory Wolfe moves to 4-0 on the season.
 
"In the first game we had some difficulty adjusting at the plate, so it was nice to see us come out in game two and make the adjustments needed to start driving the ball-we hit our first homeruns of the season today which was nice to see." said head coach Lindsay Berger. "We had some communication breakdowns on defense in the first game, which gives us something to improve on as we continue to prepare for conference play."
 
The Crusaders are back in action on Wednesday when the face non-conference rival Wilkes at home in another double header beginning at 3pm.
 
Alvernia 5, Penn State Berks 1
Alvernia 12, Penn State Berks 2