WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Junior Kristi Weaver (Milton, Pa./Milton Area) went 7-for-8 with three doubles, four runs and a RBI to lead the Lycoming College softball team against Alvernia University in a Commonwealth Conference doubleheader on Sunday, March 29, at the Shangraw Athletic Complex, as the Warriors fell in game one, 8-6 in 10 innings, before winning game two, 6-3, in six innings.
 
Freshman Heather Secord (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown Area) went 4-for-4 with a run and two RBI to lead Lycoming to a 6-2 win in a darkness-shortened second game of the doubleheader, as senior Caroline Lapano (Harrisburg, Pa./Trinity) threw a complete game to improve to 5-1 on the season.
 
The doubleheader started two hours behind schedule thanks to an overnight frost, but the bats never cooled off, as the Warriors (9-5 overall, 2-2 Commonwealth) posted 28 hits during the two games, as they snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Crusaders (7-5 overall, 1-1 Commonwealth) with the win in the second game.
 
Lycoming got started in second inning of the second game, as Lapano started the inning with a one-out single. After a flyout, junior Chelsey Poorman (Bellefonte, Pa./Bald Eagle Area) lifted single to left field, followed by a single through the left side by sophomore Elisa Novak (Ambler, Pa./Germantown Academy) to load the bases. Secord delivered a two-RBI single through the right side and Weaver also followed with another single to make it 3-0.
 
Alvernia closed within a run in the third thanks to a two-run homer from Amanda Turner, but Lycoming got the runs back in the fourth inning when Secord singled and Weaver Walked. After a passed ball, a ground out to the pitcher led to a run down with Weaver at third, which allowed Secord to break for home and score. When Alvernia threw home, Weaver also reached third, scoring on a groundout.
 
Lycoming tacked another run on in the fifth, when senior Katie Pugh (Sykesville, Md./Century) delivered a single through the left side. After a sac bunt, Novak smacked a double into the right-center field gap to make it 6-2.
 
The Crusaders nearly got even in the top of the sixth with darkness falling on the complex, loading the bases with no outs before Mckenzie Miessau singled in a run. However, Lapano struck out the next two batters before Brianna DePriest popped out to end the game.
 
Novak finished 3-for-4 with a run and RBI and Weaver went 2-for-3 with a run and RBI, as Lycoming's top three batters went 9-for-11 to set the table. Pugh and Poorman also added two hits.
 
Turner went 2-for-3 with a  run and two RBI and Shannon Grim and Taylor Malinish each had two hits to lead the Crusaders.
 
Lapano allowed 10 hits and two earned runs in the complete game. She struck out four and walked one. Taylor Fouracre (4-2) took the loss, allowing six hits and three runs in 1 2/3 innings.
 
Weaver set the school record with three doubles in the first game, as she went 5-for-5 with three runs scored to lead the Warriors, but a two-run homer by Stephanie Mancuso in the top of the 10^th inning broke a tie and helped the Crusaders survive, 8-6.
 
Lycoming rallied from down four runs in the fifth inning to force the extra innings thriller against Alvernia. Weaver started the rally with a one-out double before senior Nikki Marianelli (Old Forge, Pa./Old Forge Area) drew a walk. Sophomore Morgan Kunes (Beech Creek, Pa./Central Mountain) followed with a double to right center field to cut it to a two-run game.
 
In the seventh, junior Ashley Burger (Montoursville, Pa./Montoursville Area) delivered a single to left field to lead off before freshman Ashley Schoenstadt (Gap, Pa./Pequa Valley) came in to run. Weaver followed with a single up the middle and an error helped each runner move up a base. Marianelli was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Lapano hit a line shot that Alvernia pitched Fouracre caught and turned into a double play. Sophomore Kelcie Crabb (Millmont, Pa./Mifflinburg) walked to reload the bases, sending up Secord as a pinch-hitter, and she drove a double to right center.
 
The relay throw came in after Marianelli scored to tie the game and Crabb went halfway down the line. When the ball got away from the catcher, she drove for the plate, but Fouracre backed up the play and got the ball back to the plate in time for the out.
 
Alvernia nearly won in the eighth, when Malinish reached third with one out, but junior Dominique Thomas (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport Area) caught a fly ball from Turner and threw a dart to the plate to cut down Malinish, extending the game. In the ninth, Weaver reached third thanks to a double, a walk and a hit batter with two outs, but a groundout ended the inning.
 
In the 10^th, Mancuso homered with one out to give Alvernia the edge.
 
The Warriors got on the board with single runs in the first and second, taking a 2-1 lead in the second off an RBI single down the line by Novak, but Alvernia scored four runs in the third and added another run in the fifth to get a 6-2 advantage before Lycoming started the comeback.
 
Eight Warriors besides Weaver had at least one hit, with Kunes and Secord each adding pinch-hit two-RBI doubles. Aly Shilling led the Crusaders, going 2-for-5 with two runs, a homer and three RBI and Miessau went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.
 
Fouracre (4-1) earned the win, going four innings and allowing two hits and a run. She walked two and struck out three. Freshman Rachael Shady (Lock Haven, Pa./Central Mountain) (0-2) went seven innings in relief to get the hard-luck loss, allowing five hits and two earned runs. She walked two and struck out one.
 
The Warriors get back on the field on Tuesday, March 31, when they host Wilkes in a non-conference  doubleheader at the Shangraw Athletic Complex with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m.