(Game One) / (Game Two)
Sophomore Jen Nance (Lansdowne, PA) homered to forge a tie in the bottom of the seventh inning in game two and doubled before scoring the winning run in the ninth in a 9-8 Commonwealth Conference victory over Albright, following a tough 2-1 defeat in the opener in Chester, PA.
Nance came to the plate with Widener down to its last two outs and delivered a clutch solo homer to left center to knot the score, 8-8. She led off the ninth with a double to right center and scored on a one-out double to center from senior Astyn DiNorscia (Parkesburg, PA).
Sophomore pitcher Liz Carpino (Philadelphia, PA), who entered the game with just one out in the first, held Albright scoreless over the final four innings and without a hit for the last three.
After taking game one, Albright scored three times in the first inning of the second game. Jaime Weckesser drove in two runs on a one-out single to left and, two batters later, Brittany Bartok tacked on another with an RBI single.
Widener came back in the bottom of the inning with four runs on five hits, including a leadoff double from senior Meg Phillips (Aston, PA) and RBI singles from sophomore Casey Hargadon (Wallingford, PA) and senior Kelly Vogelgesang (Downingtown, PA).
Weckesser made it a 4-4 game in the top of the third with a leadoff home run, her second of the day. Widener regained the lead with two in the bottom on a sacrifice fly from Phillips and an RBI single from senior Kelsey Shultz (Parker Ford, PA).
The heart of Albright's order gave it another lead in the top of the fifth. The first four hitters in the inning all got hits and scored. Brandy Lagomarsino led off with a triple and Becky Crandall roped a three-run long ball to left center for an 8-6 lead.
Shultz made it a one-run game in the bottom of the frame with an RBI double, but Widener left two runners on base to bring its five-inning total to 11. Widener left 16 runners on base in the contest and Albright stranded just six.
Carpino (3-5) allowed just six hits over 8 2/3 innings. Nance and DiNorscia finished with four hits apiece.
Weckesser finished with three hits, three RBI and three runs for the Lady Lions (7-15, 1-5 CC).
The first game proved to be an offensive struggle for the Pride (13-9, 4-2), as they could only manage one run and two hits. Nance drove in the only Widener run of the game on an RBI single to center in the third, giving the Pride a 1-0 lead.
Weckesser tied the game in the fourth with a solo home run down the left field line and Kiersten Gilfoy drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth.
Weckesser (3-6) also recorded the win, allowing zero earned runs in a complete game effort.
Shultz (10-3) saw her 10-game winning streak snapped, but allowed just seven hits and two runs with six strikeouts over seven innings.
Widener on Wednesday travels to St. Davids, PA for a non-conference doubleheader against Eastern, beginning at 3:00 pm.
