Game One Box Score I
Game Two Box Score
Grantham, PA - Coming off of a week-long break since their last game - a 3-0 win over Husson University in Panama City Beach, Florida - the Falcons's bats showed no signs of complacency as they scored a total of 20 runs to beat Albright College 9-1 and 11-1. The offense plated runs in every inning except the first in both games, amassing early leads that proved to be insurmountable for the Lions.
Katie Souders led the offense with three doubles, a homerun, and seven RBI's. She was 4-for-6 on the day.
Claressa Mees picked up her fifth win of the season in the first game of the double header, while Mallory Rutlege's game two win moved her to 4-1.
Sarah Dietrich came into both games as a closer, allowing no hits while facing nine batters.
"The girls hit the cover off the ball today," head coach
Amy Weaver said. "We're seeing the ball well and making solid contact. I'm also very happy with how we ran the bases today. We've been working hard on being aggressive and making good decisions and it's paid off."
In the first game, the Falcons (10-4, 3-1) manufactured three runs by executing the basics and taking advantage of several Albright (1-9, 0-2) miscues. Souders became the first base runner after initially striking out, but a dropped third strike got away from the Lions's catcher, allowing her to safely take first.
Madelyn Coffey took one for the team in the next at-bat, becoming the next base runner for the Falcons.
Amanda Fife's single up the middle drove in Souders, while aggressive base running moved Coffey to third and Fife to second. With runners in scoring position,
Nicole Blantz caught the Lions off-guard by laying down a tremendous suicide-squeeze bunt that she beat out for a single and inevitably scored Coffey. An up-the-middle, RBI single by Dietrich tacked on one more run to end the inning and give the Falcons a 3-0 lead.
Messiah added two more runs in each of the next two innings and also put up single runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
Starting pitcher
Claressa Mees threw a solid game through three innings, giving up only three hits, until the Lions began to make contact in the fourth and fifth innings. Albright scored their only run in the fifth after a lead-off double was followed up by a single down the left field line, ending Mees's day on the mound.
Dietrich closed out the rest of the inning and faced only three batters in the top of the sixth, sealing the six-inning victory for the Falcons.
"
Claressa Mees has really stepped up for us on the mound," Weaver said. "To be 5-0 at this point in the season and as a freshman is really impressive. Sarah did a nice job coming in late in the game and shutting them [Albright] down."
In the second game, the Falcons found themselves behind 1-0 after two hits and a defensive error gave the Lions the initial lead. It didn't the Falcons long to respond, though, as Souders ripped the ball well over the center field fence for a two-run homerun.
With a 2-1 lead, the Falcons showed no signs of complacency. The bats came alive in the bottom of the third when
Courtney Allen drove the ball to left field for a lead-off double, igniting a seven hit, six run effort. Dietrich followed suit by laying down a sacrifice bunt that moved Allen onto third. Like clockwork,
Brooke Pompeo hit the ball to the right side of the field giving Allen plenty of time to score.
With two outs, the Falcons continued to put the ball in play and score runs. Back-to-back singles by Notte and
Stephanie Schell set the stage for Souders, who knocked them in with a laser of a hit to right center. In the next at-bat, Coffey singled to score Souders and wound up on third after Albright threw the ball around in what seemed to be pure frustration. Two more singles and two more errors gave way to two more runs, bringing the score to 8-1.
The Falcons added three more runs in the fourth on a lead-off triple by Dietrich, doubles by Notte and Souders, and a single from Schell. With a 10 run lead, the Falcons needed three outs to end the game in five innings.
Enter Dietrich.
Despite a poor throw that allowed Albright a lead-off base runner, Dietrich shut down the next three batters to secure the win.
"I'm really proud of what we did today," Weaver said. "Everyone did their part and we walked away with two solid wins."
The Falcons look to keep their momentum rolling this weekend when they host their next Commonwealth opponent, Hood College. Game one of the double header is set to begin at 1:00 p.m.
