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XML Box Score 2 Reading, PA - Natalie Carlucci hit a three-run homerun for Albright to lead the Lions to an upset victory (4-3) over Messiah in Game One of Saturday's double-header. Messiah evened the series in Game Two, winning 5-3 behind three hits from
Courtney Allen.
Game One Despite taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a single by
Katie Tankred, Messiah quickly fell behind 3-1 when Natalie Carlucci hit her sixth homerun of the season to put Albright up 3-1. Her shot came with one out and pushed her team-leading RBI total to 25.
Mallory Rutledge settled down for the Falcons after giving up the homer; she retired eight-straight batters before walking Carlucci to lead off the fourth. She kept Messiah close until the sixth when Jackie Bohanan's grounder went through
Amanda Jones at shortstop and scored Alex DeQueiroz.
Down the their last at-bat, Messiah rallied to almost even the score. Tankred reached on an error to lead off the seventh and both
Krista Ammon and
Nicole Blantz (RBI) followed with singles to leftfield.
Claressa Mees lined out to leftfield as a pinch-hitter, but
Sydney Boreman followed with a ground-rule double to score Ammon. Now with runners on second and third and just one out, Messiah failed to tie the game as both
Amanda Jones (attempted squeeze) and
Brooke Pompeo grounded out to pitcher Katie Civitello.
Civitello was the second hero for Albright as she finished seven innings and allowed just seven hits and three walks; from the second through sixth innings she did not allow a Falcons' baserunner to get beyond second base.
Ammon finished 3-2 for Messiah while Rutledge (10-4) took the hard-luck loss after throwing six innings and allowing seven hits and a walk against six strikeouts.
Game TwoAfter upsetting the Falcons in Game One, Albright seemed poise to sweep Messiah after taking a 2-0 lead in the second inning of Game Two. Shelby Snyder homered to lead off the frame and a passed ball by starter
Claressa Mees allowed the Lions' second run to race home from third.
Trailing 2-0, Messiah continued to work through some offensive struggles as they collected just one hit from the second through fourth innings. However, in the fifth inning the barrier broke.
Katie Tankred led off with a double and, after a pop-up by Mees, Messiah collected six singles in their next seven at-bats to score five runs.
Nicole Blantz (groundout),
Emily Quatrale (single), Allen (two-run single), and
Becky Notte (single) all pushed runs across the plate.
Mees worked around a one-out single in the fifth and a solo homerun by Carlucci in the sixth to preserve the Falcons lead. In the seventh she set down the Lions in order. She improved to 7-2 and lowered her team-leading ERA to 1.12.
Allen finished 3-4 in the game to lead the offense. Mees allowed just four hits over her four innings and struck out seven batters.
Civitello competed all seven innings again for Albright, but could not avoid the Falcons' big fifth inning as she fell to 7-15.
Messiah (18-6) moved to 7-1 in the conference with the split. They will face undefeated Lebanon Valley (8-0) on Tuesday at Messiah, with the first pitch of the double-header scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
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