BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2 Clermont, Fl (Mar. 6, 2017) – Senior Amanda Turner jacked her 18^th career long ball to claim the Alvernia Program Record as the Crusaders went 2-0 in their opening day of the 2017 season at the National Training Center.

Alvernia claimed a 7-2 victory in the first contest against St. Vincent before picking up a 7-6 win in the night cap.

In the opener, the Crusaders jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Turner gave Alvernia the runner it needed with a leadoff walk, and advanced to third on a Bearcat error off the bat of Morgan Petry. Turner crossed on the next pitch as St. Vincent threw out Petry sacrificing herself at second.

St. Vincent knotted the game in the bottom half of the frame, but the tie was short-lived as Alvernia pulled ahead 2-1 in the fourth.

Turner again started the inning, reaching on another Bearcat error. Pinch-runner Bernadette Carey advanced to second on a Mckenzie Miessau fielder's choice, and came around to score on the RBI single by Petry.

The Crusaders pushed their momentum into the fifth, notching four more runs. Taylor Malinish and JoAnnah Lim were both plated on a single to left by Turner, and back-to-back singles by Miessau and Petry brought in Sarah Bystrycki and Turner.

Alvernia tacked on one more in the sixth as Lim scored for the second time of the game on an RBI single by Brianna DePriest.

Junior Taylor Fouracre (1-0) collected the win on the mound, scattering four hits in 5 complete innings of work. Freshman Riley Shields hurled the final two innings, allowing two hits and notching her first career strikeout.

The Crusaders took to the board first again in the nightcap, pulling out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Consecutive walks by Lim and Carmella brought Petry to the plate, where she ripped her third RBI of the day.

Catholic responded with the equalizer in the top of the second, but Alvernia continued its strong offensive performance, notching a trio of runs in the bottom half. After Samantha Petry led off the inning with her first collegiate single, Lim and Carmella repeated their first inning performance to load the bases.

Morgan Petry put the Crusaders back on top with a sac fly to right to cross her sister, and Turner extended the margin with a single to bring around Lim and Carmella.

Alvernia added another trio of runs in the fourth, pushing the lead to 7-2. Malinish started the inning with a single up the middle, and collected the Crusaders' fifth run on a Lim double. Lim came around to score on a pair of fielder's choice, and Amanda Turner recorded the final Alvernia run with her record-setting blast to left field.

Catholic threated in the seventh, putting together four runs.

After the Cardinal closed the gap to 7-6, sophomore Brittany Brown took the mound for Alvernia with 1 out and a runner on second. Catholic sent the game-tying run home on a base knock up the middle, but centerfield Morgan Psiuk came up firing, nailing the runner at the plate to keep the lead.

Brown then induced a ground ball to herself to close out the game, picking up her first save of the year.

Freshman Samantha Petry earned the start and the win, allowing just five hits in five innings of work.

Morgan Petry, Turner and Lim led the Crusaders offensively. Petry ripped four hits with four RBI, while Turner had three hits while knocking in five RBI. Lim also three hits, knocking in a run while swiping a pair of bags on the bases.

Alvernia returns to action tomorrow, facing Northwestern-St.Paul and Misercordia in another double-header. First game starts at 1:00 pm.