WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – In the first game, junior Rachael Shady's two-RBI single up the middle helped the Lycoming College softball team walk off with a 4-3 win and in the second game, her single down the left field line gave the team an 8-0 run-rule shortened six-inning win, as Lycoming swept Alvernia University in MAC Commonwealth action at the Shangraw Athletic Complex on Sunday afternoon, April 2.
 
Freshman Kayla Kline (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg Area) extended her hitting streak to 15 games, the third-longest in school history and just two games shy of the school record set by Amy Long (1996) and Holly Lansberry (2012). She went 7-of-8 with four runs, a RBI, two doubles and a triple in the two games, as she posted four hits in the first game and two in the second.
 
Shady (Lock Haven, Pa./Central Mountain) added five hits, four RBI, a run and a double offensively, as she saw her batting average soar to .409. She also added her fifth win of the year in the circle with a complete-game seven-hitter in the first game.
 
Sophomore Liz Nace (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) (1-0), meanwhile, was just as effective in the second game in the circle, as she tossed a four-hit shutout in just her second career start.
 
In the first game, the Crusaders (10-10 overall, 0-6 MAC Commonwealth) built a 3-0 lead thanks to single runs by JoAnnah Lim in the first, third and seventh innings, but the Warriors (9-6 overall, 2-4 MAC Commonwealth) put together a four-run rally in the seventh to clinch the win.
 
After Alvernia hurler Brittany Brown had held the Warriors to five hits in the first six innings, Lycoming began its rally when freshman Darci Warriner (Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro Area) led off the seventh with a walk. After a strikeout, junior Samantha Fischer (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport) singled to left field to move Warriner to third. Kline lined a 3-2 pitch into right field for her fourth hit of the game to score Warriner and move Fischer to third.
 
A passed ball moved Kline up to second to move the tying run into scoring position before freshman Madison Brown (McElhattan, Pa./Central Mountain) delivered a single into left center to score pinch-running sophomore Cayla Treaster (Montoursville, Pa./Montoursville Area) and make it 3-2. Shady followed with a single right up the middle to score Kline easily. Brown never stopped and a strong throw from the outfield got away from the catcher, allowing Brown to dive in with the winning run.
 
Shady finished 2-for-4 with two runs at the plate and she improved to 5-4 in the circle, as she tossed seven innings, allowing two earned runs, three walks, seven hits and striking out four.
 
Brittany Brown (2-3) took the loss for the Crusaders, allowing 10 hits and four runs. She walked two and struck out four.
 
Lim went 2-for-4 with three runs in the first game and Sarah Bystrycki went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a double to lead Alvernia offensively.
 
In the second game, Nace kept the Warriors in control with her performance in the circle, while Lycoming's offense used three-run innings in the third and fourth frames to post the 8-0, six-inning win.
 
Lycoming's offense got going in the third inning when Kline delivered a one-out double. After a sacrifice bunt, Shady delivered a single up the middle to score the first run before senior Morgan Kunes (Beech Creek, Pa./Central Mountain) followed with a single to shallow right field. Senior Kelcie Crabb (Millmont, Pa./Mifflinburg) drove in Shady with a double to the left-center field gap and junior Ashley Schoenstadt (Gap, Pa./Pequea Valley) drilled an RBI double down the left-field line.
 
Lycoming continued with three more runs in the fourth, with Fischer walking with one out before Kline delivered a double to right-center and Brown delivered a two-RBI double to left-center. After a groundout, Brown scored when Kunes drilled a single up the middle.
 
In the fifth, Schoenstadt drilled a double to left center and came around to score on a sac fly by sophomore Rachel Duda (Jersey Shore, Pa./Jersey Shore Area) and in the sixth, Lycoming won the game as Kline led off with an infield single, took second on a walk and scored on Shady's single down the left field line.
 
Nace retired the first seven batters she faced and later added another run of six straight batters retired in the shutout win. Brianna Fisher (1-1) took the loss for the Crusaders, allowing three runs and seven hits in three innings.
 
Kline went 3-for-4 with three runs and two doubles, Shady went 3-for-4 with a run and two doubles and Schoenstadt went 3-for-3 with two doubles, a run and RBI to lead the Warriors offensively.
 
The Warriors get back on the field on Tuesday, April 4, when they host Misericordia in a non-conference doubleheader at 3 p.m. at the Shangraw Athletic Complex.