BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Senior first baseman Jenn Dalickas connected on a pair of home runs to break the Moravian College career record with her 30th career homer as the Greyhounds swept Ramapo College of New Jersey, 7-1 and 11-3 in five innings, in non-conference action at Blue & Grey Field Thursday afternoon.
The Hounds reached the 20-win plateau for the 22nd consecutive season as the improved to 20-4 this spring and remained undefeated at home.
Dalickas entered the afternoon with 28 career homers, just one behind Janelle Brey Greer's '04 school record of 29. Dalickas tied the mark with a solo home run in the third inning of the opener, and she then broke the mark with a two-run shot in the bottom of the second frame of the second contest. Greer was in attendance at the games with her children and retrieved the record setting home run ball, presenting it to Dalickas behind the Moravian dugout an inning later.
"There are no words to explain it other than it is such an honor to break a record that has stood for 11 years," Dalickas said. "I would have never thought as a freshman that I would break it, and it is still just an unreal moment for me. I don't think it is going to hit me for a while.
"That was something special and something I'll remember for the rest of my life," continued Dalickas on what it meant to have Greer at the game and present her the ball. "She was a great player, and it meant so much that she was here today."
The Greyhounds had 10 hits in the opening game with Dalickas going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and a home run. Freshman catcher Janae Matos was 2-for-3 with her first collegiate homer and three RBIs.
"Jenn has snapped out of a little slump and starting to get some good swings," commented Head Coach John Byrne. "It was nice to see, and she did it against a good Ramapo team and was able to do it at home. It was good to see her get some good pitches to hit in the leadoff spot."
The Hounds jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Sophomore left fielder Julie Siragusa led off with a double to centerfield, and Abby Jeffries followed with an RBI double to left centerfield to score Siragusa. After two outs, Matos connected on a two-run homer to left field.
The Roadrunners would get onto the scoreboard with a run in the third inning but Moravian needed just three pitches in the bottom half of the inning to get the run back. Dalickas ripped a 1-1 pitch on a line drive over the right field first for a solo homer, her third of the season.
The Greyhounds tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the fourth for a 7-1 lead. Megan Taylor reached on an error with one out and scored from first base on an RBI double to left field past a sliding outfielder by Matos. Sophomore Victoria Conner came on to pinch hit, and ripped an RBI double to right field, chasing Matos across the plate. Dalickas followed with an RBI single to right field to finish the scoring.
Freshman Josie Novak struck out a career high 11 batters, her third double-digit strikeout game of the season, for her ninth win of the season. Novak allowed just four hits and a walk in the contest.
The Blue & Grey connected for 13 hits in the second game with senior center fielder Dior George going 3-for-4 with four RBIs and Conner going a perfect 3-for-3in her first start of the season. Dalickas was 2-for-3 while junior shortstop Lindsay Sullivan was 2-for-2.
"We've talked about that the bottom of the lineup has got to contribute. The years that we've had a lot of success here, we've had some pretty darn good hitters down in the lineup," stated Byrne. "We worked on some things at practice yesterday hitting wise, and I think the old adage that when you're struggling, you listen came out today. We had some people make some adjustments, and it was good to see Janae and Victoria really hitting the ball. They both are hard workers and we challenged them that if they want to be college hitters, they need to listen and make some adjustments."
Moravian took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning of the second game. Junior right fielder Mary Schlosbon reached second on a throwing error and raced home on an RBI single up the middle by George. George eventually scored on an RBI infield single by Conner.
The Road Runners answered with two runs in the top of the second inning to tie the score at 2-2.
The Greyhounds moved back in front with two runs in the bottom of the second inning when Matos reached on a fielder's choice and Dalickas ripped her school record 30th career home run, a two-run shot to left field.
Moravian scored three times in the bottom of the fourth inning to extend the lead to 7-2. Sullivan led off with a single through the left side and sophomore Lizzie Deutsch came on to pinch run. After a Matos sacrifice bunt, Dalickas hit a single and took second on a throw to put two runners in scoring position. Schlosbon reached on an error as Deutsch scored. With runners on the corners, George ripped a two-RBI double down the left field line as Schlosbon came all the way around from first base to beat the throw to the plate.
Ramapo scored a run in the top of the fifth before the Greyhounds pushed four runs across the plate in the bottom of the fifth for the NCAA eight-run rule.
Conner led off the fifth with a single before Taylor came on to pinch run. Sophomore second baseman Chrissy Marinaro reached on an error before Deutsch walked to load the bases. Matos then connected on a three-RBI double to the cap in right center to empty the bases. Dalickas walked and Schlosbon had an infield single on a bunt to reload the bases for the Hounds. With the infield and outfield in with no outs in the inning, George hit a long fly ball to left field for an RBI single to score Matos with the final run of the game.
Freshman Amanda Carisone won her 11th consecutive decision in the circle for Moravian, allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits to go with four strikeouts.
"I thought both pitchers were very good today against a really good hitting Ramapo squad," Byrne said. "I think that is the best that Josie has pitched since we were down in Florida."
The Greyhounds will continue their 10-game homestand on Saturday, April 18 when the squad welcomes Juniata College to Blue & Grey Field for a Landmark Conference doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m. at Blue & Grey Field. Moravian can clinch its 21st straight postseason appearance with just a tie in either of the games against the Eagles.
