Annville, Pa (May 4, 2018) - #5 Alvernia University (23-12-1) defeated #4 Hood College (19-18), but fell to #1 Arcadia University (25-12) in the first day of MAC Commonwealth Softball Championship action on Friday at Lebanon Valley College.
Alvernia took the first game over Hood by a 6-1 decision, but was shutout by Arcadia, 4-0, in its second game of the day.
In the first game of the day, the Golden Wolves got off to an early lead. Morgan Psuik reached base on the first at bat of the tournament, and was brought home by an RBI double from
Riley Shields.
Alvernia extended its lead to 2-0 with a solo home run to left field  by Psuik in the first at bat of the third inning.
The Golden Wolves added two more in the top of the fourth to take a 4-0 advantage with a two run RBI single by
Sarah Reinert to bring in Psuik and
Emily Carmella.
Alvernia extended its lead to 5-0 in the top of the fifth with an RBI single from Carmella to bring home
Bernadette Carey and took the 6-0 advantage in the top of the sixth with an RBI single from Carey to drive in Reinert.
The Blazers plated one in the top of the sixth, but Alvernia's defense was dominant behind Shields and took the 6-1 victory.
Shields went the distance, striking out five and allowing just five hits.
Alvernia's offense in game one was led by Morgan Psuik, who went 3-4 with a single, double, and homerun, and
Sarah Reinert who had 2 RBIs.
With the win in game one, Alvernia moved on to face #1 Arcadia University in its second game of the day, and third game of the MAC Commonwealth Championship.
In Alvernia's second game of the day against Arcadia, the Knights went out to an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
The Golden Wolves struggled to get anything going offensively, and were held hitless until the top of the fourth.
Despite being held to just two hits on the day, Alvernia was able to get base runners, but the Golden Wolves unable to convert.
The MAC Commonwealth Championship follows a double elimination format. Alvernia will play in the sixth game of the MAC Commonwealth Championship on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 PM against the hosts, #3 Lebanon Valley College.
#5 Alvernia 6, #4 Hood 1
#1 Arcadia 4, Alvernia 0
