FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dan Donohue, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information, 610-606-4666 x. 3725
FALCONS SEND GRIFFINS HOME EMPTY-HANDED, KEEP PLAYOFF HOPES ALIVE
Allentown, PA (April 26, 2011) - Cedar Crest kept a foot inside the playoff door today with two must-have wins against Colonial States Athletic Conference foe Gwynedd-Mercy by the scores of 5-2 and 4-3.
In game one, the Falcons jumped out to an early lead with a run in the bottom of the first on lead-off hitter Tammy Gruzdis' (Allentown, PA/Liberty) single followed by a Tammy Touhsaent (Mertztown, PA/Kutztown) RBI double. The Griffins strung together a few hits and tied it at 1-1 in the second, before both teams went cold for a few innings. A double by Shannon Wenner (Drums, Pa./MMI Preparatory) to lead off for the Falcons in the fourth inning, followed by a single by Natalia Dial (Kannapolis, NC/Jesse C. Carson), put the Falcons in a position to score two more on singles by Michelle Palmisano (Pen Argyl, PA/Pen Argyl) and Samantha Olier (Belvidere, NJ/Warren County). Similarly in the fifth, with the top of the order back up, a Gruzdis single followed by another Wenner double and another Dial single allowed two more Cedar Crest runs. The Falcons entered the seventh inning leading 5-2, a lead Gwynedd-Mercy could not surmount. In the game, the Falcons out-hit the Griffins 11-7, and Wenner had two doubles in four at-bats.
In the second game, Gwynedd-Mercy jumped out to a two run lead in the first although the Falcons got one back on a lead-off single by Gruzdis, who was brought home by a huge triple by Wenner. The Griffins then increased their lead to 3-1 in the fourth. The Falcons tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth as Touhsaent got on base with a double, then was brought home by a Wenner home run. Cedar Crest's winning run came on back-to-back doubles by Palmisano and Laura Swanhall (Cobleskill, NY/Cobleskill-Richmondville). Although Gwynedd-Mercy got the tying run on base several times, the defense held and Cedar Crest notched the 5-2 win. The Falcons out-hit the Griffins 13-11 in the second game, and Wenner went 3 for 4 with a single, a triple and a home run.
It was another good outing for Dial who pitched both ends and had eight strike outs on the day.
The Falcons are now 10-18 overall and climb to 9-9 in the conference. Gwynedd-Mercy drops to 10-17 and 8-10 in the CSAC. Cedar Crest's next game will be a rescheduled CSAC doubleheader at Marywood on Friday, April 29th, at 3:00 p.m.
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