Reading, Pa. (May 2, 2012) - Alvernia University (32-8, 10-4) opens the Commonwealth Conference Tournament as the #3 seed and will take on #2 Lebanon Valley College on Friday May 4th at 1:00 p.m. This is the first appearance in the Commonwealth Championships for the Crusader Softball squad since joining the conference in 2010.
Alvernia Softball is in the midst of their best season ever, recently setting a new program record of 32 wins with a sweep of DeSales University on May 1. Announced on Monday, three Crusaders were named to the Second team All-Commonwealth -- junior
Danielle Kitchen (Saylorsburg, Pa./Pleasant Valley), freshman
Brittanie Wolfe (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove) and freshman Shannon Grim (Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown) all earned the honor.
Sophomore
Katie Manowski (Grasonville, Md./Kent Island) has paced the Crusader offense with her team-high .426 batting average. Grim leads the squad with 49 hits, 43 RBIs, and her conference-leading .500 on base %. Senior
Diane Lightner (Gaithersburg, Md./Acad. of the Holy Cross), who was recently named the Commonwealth Player of the Week, has also given Alvernia some pop at the plate with a team-high four homeruns and 25 RBIs. Kitchen is tied with Lightner, also blasting four homeruns, along with ten doubles and 34 RBIs. Alvernia is batting .320 as a team, with a .375 team on base %--both good for second in the conference.
The Crusader outfield trio of
Jacklyn Torres (Colonia, NJ/Colonia),
Miranda Peto (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville), and
Felicia McKenna (Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown) have patrolled the grass like no other this season. With just three errors between the three of them all season, they post a combined .984 fielding %. The trio of outfielders are also getting it done at the plate with a combined .351 on base %.
Freshman pitcher Wolfe has been a stalwart presence in the circle for the Crusaders, with a 1.86 ERA through 135 innings pitched. She has a conference-leading 18 wins and has surrendered just 17 walks and 36 earned runs. Junior
Deanna Dungee (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) has also been solid from the circle with a 2.36 ERA and team-low opponents's batting average of .251. She has struckout 69 through 100 innings and has committed just one error.
The Commonwealth Conference champion will be decided by a two-day double-elimination tournament with the schedule listed below.
LiveStats
Commonwealth Conference Softball Championships
At Messiah College - Starry Field
Directions to Messiah College
Friday, May 4
Game 1 11:00am #1 Messiah vs. #4 Elizabethtown
Game 2 1:00pm #2 Lebanon Valley vs. #3 Alvernia
Game 3 3:00pm Winner Game #1 vs. Winner Game #2
Saturday, May 5
Game 4 9:00am Loser Game #1 vs. Loser Game #2
Game 5 11:00am Loser Game #3 vs. Winner Game #4
Game 6 1:00pm Winner Game
3 vs. Winner Game 5
Game 7 3:00pm If necessary game
Sunday, May 3
Rain delay games if necessary
TICKET PRICES
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Adults |
Students |
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Daily |
$5 |
$2 |
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All-Sessions |
$8 |
$3 |
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Children Under 6 are FREE |
