Grantham, PA - It was a pitcher's kind of day Tuesday as the Messiah College (28-7, 14-0) softball team picked up two monumental Commonwealth Conference wins over Albright College (15-12, 5-11).

Claressa Mees (14-3) threw a no-hitter and Courtney Allen hit a walk-off home run to lead the Falcons to a thrilling 1-0 win over the Lions in Game One. Mees struck out four batters and walked just one in the complete game effort.

In Game Two, Allen (7-0) went the distance from the pitcher's circle, accumulating a career-high 13 strikeouts en route to the 4-1 victory.

Game One

The opening game of Tuesday's doubleheader will go down in the record books as one of the most thrilling of the 2015 season. The classic pitcher's duel ended on a very sweet note, a walk-off homerun courtesy of Courtney Allen.

Both aces, Mees for Messiah and Sammi O'Connor for Albright, were dominant through the majority of the game. It wasn't until the seventh inning that Messiah cracked the code and sent one out-of-the-park for the lone score.

The Lions and Falcons went three-up, three-down in the first two and a half innings; yet it was Messiah who created the first and best scoring opportunity in the bottom of the second. Becky Notte singled and Nicole Blantz walked, giving the game its first baserunners, but their teammates just couldn't bring them home.

Albright managed to put single runners on-base in both the third (error) and fourth (walk), but the Falcons shut them down otherwise.

O'Connor's rise ball and curve got the best of the Falcons, as four different players went down on strikes throughout the game. In the later innings, Coach Amy Weaver adjusted her hitters' approach, asking them to choke up and slap for power.

The change made all the difference.

In the bottom of the seventh, with the score knotted 0-0, Courtney Allen poked a solo shot over the left field fence for the walkoff victory. The homerun, her third of the season, was her second round-tripper in as many games.

Game Two

Courtney Allen carried her momentum into the second game of the doubleheader, this time taking the ball in the pitcher's circle. A solo homerun in the second inning was her only real blemish, as Allen kept the Lions off-balance through the second half of the game.  She held the Lions to just one hit in the first, second, and third innings, while accumulating a record 13 strikeouts.

The Falcons were able to battle back from the early 1-0 deficit by taking advantage of key Albright errors.

In the bottom of the fifth an error by the Lions' shortstop put Tina Lehman on first. This blunder proved costly as Amanda Jones drove Lehman in later in the inning, bringing the score to 1-1.

The Falcons broke things open in the sixth, plating three more runs on two hits and one Albright error.

This time around, Allen got things going with a lead-off double to left. A sacrifice bunt from Nicole Blantz moved Allen over to third, yet it was a well placed slap to the right side by Amber Bingaman that gave Allen the opportunity to score. Bingaman later scored on another Albright miscue. The Falcons' final run came on a sacrifice fly by Carrie Fix. Emily Quatrale scored on the play to give Messiah the 4-1 lead.

In total, three of four Messiah runs were unearned with Fix, Jones, and Bingaman each getting credit for RBI. Allen led the charge with two hits, both doubles, in the 4-1 victory.

With the wins, the Falcons clinch a berth into the Commonwealth Conference tournament. They will closeout regular season Conference play on Saturday against Widener University. The results of the doubleheader will determine the seeding in the tournament.

But before they can focus on Saturday's games, the Falcons will host the University of Rutgers-Camden on Thursday. The non-conference single game will begin at 4:30 p.m.