Elizabethtown College Softball News 
Back to top 5/5/2008 Alex Lee, Paige Tanner named second-team All-Conference FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Lee, Tanner Named All-Conference in Softball ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College senior pitcher Alex Lee (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus) and sophomore shortstop Paige Tanner (Waynesboro, PA/Waynesboro) have been named second-team All-Commonwealth Conference in softball, as voted upon by the league's six head coaches and announced Monday. Lee, a first-team All-Conference choice last year, finished 11-13 with a 2.34 earned run average in 28 games (23 starts) this season. She led the Commonwealth Conference in innings pitched (170 2/3), complete games (22) and strikeouts (142) and also tossed five shutouts. For her career, she will graduate as the program's career leader in games pitched (103), starts (89), complete games (83), innings pitched (615 2/3) and strikeouts (488). Tanner led the Blue Jays in batting average at .286, and also led the team in runs scored (25), hits (30), doubles (7), triples (3) and walks (22). In two seasons, she has a career batting average of .298 with 47 runs scored, 62 hits, 15 doubles, three home runs and 36 runs batted in. The Blue Jays finished 13-24 overall and in third place in the Commonwealth Conference with a 5-5 league record. Elizabethtown advanced to the conference finals for the first time since 2003 before falling to top-seeded Lebanon Valley College 4-3 in the title game. Back to top 5/3/2008 Late rally gives LVC conference title after Blue Jays down Messiah in 10 in ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE SOFTBALL Late Rally Gives Lebanon Valley 4-3 Win over Etown in Commonwealth Conference Finals Click here for the Messiah boxscore ANNVILLE, Pa. --- Jessica Salisbury's RBI single with one out in the bottom of the seventh capped a four-run rally and gave Lebanon Valley College a 4-3 victory over Elizabethtown College in the Commonwealth Conference softball championship game on Saturday afternoon. Salisbury's hit gave the Dutchmen (27-9 overall) their first-ever conference title after three previous losses in the championship game. The Blue Jays (13-24 overall) had advanced to the finals for the first time since 2003 with a 1-0 win in 10 innings over Messiah College earlier in the day. Elizabethtown, which needed to defeat Lebanon Valley twice in order to claim the championship, held a 3-0 lead entering the bottom of the seventh. Lebanon Valley began its rally with a leadoff double by Caitlin Keller, and one out later consecutive doubles by Katie Freeman and Chelsea Artz brought the Dutchmen to within 3-2. After a single by Lauren Sanford put runners on the corners, Katie DeJulio singled home Artz to tie the game at 3-3. Following a walk, Salisbury singled to center to drive home Sanford with the winning run. The comeback spoiled a sensational afternoon by Blue Jay starting pitcher Alex Lee (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus), who had thrown 16 consecutive scoreless innings on the day before the Dutchmen's comeback. In addition, she provided Elizabethtown with its runs on a three-run home run in the top of the fifth inning. The blast was the first and only hit of her career in 17 at-bats. Lebanon Valley finished with an 11-3 edge in hits in the contest, as Salisbury went 3-for-4 and Artz and DeJulio each finished 2-for-3. Laura Snyder (14-2) earned the win for the Dutchmen, striking out 11 and walking three, while Lee (11-13) fanned two and walked three in her final career appearance. She departs as the program's career leader in games pitched (103), starts (89), complete games (83), innings pitched (615 2/3) and strikeouts (488). Elizabethtown advanced to the title game with a 1-0 win in 10 innings over Messiah, on a walk-off RBI single by sophomore Ryan Allard (Londonderry, NH/Londonderry). Lee went the distance in the win for the Blue Jays, allowing five hits while striking out five. Jessica Climenhaga took the loss for the Falcons (22-21 overall), allowing two hits in 2 2/3 innings in relief of Megan Rice, who struck out nine and allowed three hits in 6 2/3 innings. The winning rally started as junior Holly Martin (Elizabethtown, PA/Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk, NY) led off with a walk and was lifted for junior pinch-runner Amanda Gordon (Vernon, NJ/Vernon Township). Lee sacrificed Gordon to second, and she advanced to third on a wild pitch. Allard then singled to left to drive home Gordon with the winning run. The Blue Jays had chances to win the game in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, but stranded a runner in scoring position in the seventh and left runners on second and third in the ninth. The Falcons left two runners on base to end the seventh, and put runners on second and third with two outs in the eighth but could not score. Allard finished 3-for-5 to account for three of the Blue Jays' five hits in the game, while Amy Bowie went 2-for-4 for the Falcons. Commonwealth Conference Softball Tournament Elizabethtown Coll. 1, Messiah College 0 Championship game Back to top 5/2/2008 Blue Jays defeat Widener, fall to Lebanon Valley in day one of Commonwealth ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE SOFTBALL Etown Falls to Lebanon Valley 9-0 in Softball Tourney After Defeating Widener 2-0 in Opener Click here for the Widener boxscore ANNVILLE, Pa. --- An eight-run fifth inning gave top-seeded host Lebanon Valley College a 9-0 victory over Elizabethtown College in a winners bracket game of the Commonwealth Conference softball tournament on Friday afternoon. The Blue Jays had advanced earlier in the day with a 2-0 victory over Widener University behind a seven-hitter from senior Alex Lee (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus). They will play on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. against the winner of a 9:00 a.m. elimination game between Widener and Messiah College, with the winner to face Lebanon Valley in the championship round. Allie Davies hit two home runs for the Dutchmen (26-9 overall), including a walk-off two-run blast in the bottom of the fifth, as Lebanon Valley advanced to the championship game for the fourth time in the last eight years. Lebanon Valley took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on a solo home run by Davies, and carried the lead through four innings. In the fifth, the Dutchmen took advantage of three consecutive Blue Jay errors to load the bases with no outs. Chelsea Artz then cleared the bases with a double to right-center to give the Dutchmen a 4-0 lead. A single by Katie DeJulio pushed the Lebanon Valley lead to 5-0, and Kristen Uhas followed with a two-run single to extend the lead to 7-0. Davies then hit her second home run of the game, a two-run blast to left, to end the contest via the eight-run rule. Uhas went 2-for-3 with two RBI for the Dutchmen, while Davies finished 2-for-3 with three runs batted in and two runs scored. Val Malizzia (11-3) picked up the win for the Dutchmen, allowing two hits and striking out six, while Lee (10-12) took the loss after yielding seven runs (one earned) on five hits in four-plus innings of work. Against Widener, Lee pitched a complete-game seven-hitter and worked out of jams in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings as the Blue Jays avenged a doubleheader sweep by the Pride in their regular-season meeting. The Blue Jays jumped to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning as junior Marian Guzik (Greensburg, PA/Hempfield Area) led off with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice and scored on a wild pitch. In the third, junior Lauren Hoover (Reading, PA/Oley Valley) led off with a double off the left-field fence, and came home on a two-out single by first-year student Kelsea Corrado (La Plata, MD/La Plata) that gave the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead. Widener (30-11 overall) mounted a threat in the fourth inning, putting runners at first and second with two outs, but Lee worked out of the jam by inducing a fielder's choice grounder to end the inning. The Pride threatened again in the sixth, with runners at first and second with one out. However, Widener was unable to capitalize as Lee got a popup and groundout to escape without any damage. In the bottom of the seventh, pinch-hitter Kim Dougherty led off with a single to center field, but Lee got the next two outs on a strikeout and a fielder's choice. Caitlin Callahan, who finished 2-for-4, then doubled off the fence in left to put runners on second and third, but Krista Cesarine grounded out to second to end the game. Sophomore Sarah Church (Aston, PA/Sun Valley) went 2-for-4 for the Blue Jays against Widener, while sophomore Ryan Allard (Londonderry, NH/Londonderry) went 2-for-2 with a double. Commonwealth Conference Softball Tournament Elizabethtown Coll. 2, Widener University 0 Lebanon Valley Coll. 9, Elizabethtown College 0 Back to top 5/1/2008 Elizabethtown to face Widener in playoff opener on Friday FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Softball Opens Commonwealth Playoffs on Friday ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- The Elizabethtown College softball team will begin play in the Commonwealth Conference Tournament at Lebanon Valley College on Friday, facing Widener University at 1:00 p.m. The Blue Jays (11-22 overall, 5-5 Commonwealth) finished third in the conference during the regular season, and are making their fourth overall appearance in the eight-year history of the tournament. Top-seeded host Lebanon Valley will play fourth-seeded Messiah College at 11:00 a.m. in the opening game of the tournament, with the winners meeting at 3:00 p.m. Action continues Saturday with three games, including the title contest at 1:00 p.m. The Blue Jay offense is led by sophomore shortstop Paige Tanner (Waynesboro, PA/Waynesboro), who is batting .305 and leads the squad with 24 runs scored, 29 hits, three triples and 18 walks. Senior catcher Abbie Merrifield (York, PA/Dallastown) is hitting .303 with 27 hits, a team-high seven doubles and 11 runs batted in, while first-year designated player Kelsea Corrado (La Plata, MD/La Plata) is at .277 and leads the team with three home runs and 23 runs batted in. The pitching staff is paced by senior righthander Alex Lee (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus), who is 9-11 with a 2.54 earned run average in 24 games (19 starts). She leads the conference in innings pitched (143 1/3), strikeouts (130) and complete games (19), and is the school's all-time leader in all three categories. Commonwealth Conference Softball Tournament Friday, May 2 Saturday, May 3 |
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