BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College Head Coach John Byrne earned his 700th career victory in the opener as the Greyhounds swept The College of Staten Island, 5-0 and 7-4, in non-conference action Saturday on Senior Day at Blue & Grey Field as the Hounds completed their 2015 home season.
Byrne has led the Moravian program to a 701-217 record over the last 22 seasons, and he is the 11th active NCAA Division III coach to reach the milestone and the third this season. A total of 15 NCAA Division III coaches have won at least 700 career games. Byrne came to Moravian as a student in 1978 and since that time as a student-athlete of the baseball team, an assistant coach for the baseball and football teams, one year as head women's volleyball coach and the last 22 years with the softball program, Byrne has been part of 1,386 games for Moravian with a 969-415-2 record.
"It was nice to get the 700th win, and the fact that a lot of former players were here today made it even more special," explained Byrne. "It is a little bit more emotional than I thought. I've been around a long time and had a lot of good players. We've tried to win every game I've coached and when you win the vast majority of them, I feel pretty good about that. I haven't hit a ball, haven't fielded a ball or pitched a ball. All that is the players that have played for me."
In the opener against Staten Island, Moravian had seven hits including home runs by seniors second baseman Lizzie Mack and first baseman Jenn Dalickas.
Freshman Josie Novak tossed her fourth shutout of the season in the circle for the Greyhounds as she scattered two hits and struck out eight batters to move into a tie for ninth in the Moravian record books with 113 strikeouts this season. Novak is now 12-3 in the circle.
Mack gave the Hounds a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when she connected on a 1-1 pitch and sent it over the left field fence for her second homer of the season.
The Blue & Grey added four runs in the bottom half of the sixth inning to finish off the scoring. Sophomore shortstop Madison Newhouser reached on a fielder's choice, and junior pinch hitter Lindsay Sullivan followed with a single. After an out, freshman catcher Janae Matos connected on an RBI single to center field scoring Newhouser. Dalickas then hit a 1-1 pitch over the center field fence for her team-leading sixth homer of the season; a three-run shot that extended her school career record to 32.
Moravian would pound out 12 hits in the second contest with Dalickas going 3-for-4. Junior right fielder Mary Schlosbon was 2-for-3 while senior center fielder Dior George finished 2-for-4.
The Hounds took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Dalickas led off with her team-leading 11th double of the season and scored on an RBI single up the middle by George.
The Blue & Grey extended their lead to 3-0 with a pair of runs in the home half of the second inning. Newhouser led off with a single and Sullivan followed with another single. After a sacrifice bunt by sophomore third baseman Victoria Conner, sophomore catcher Niki Maffettone ripped an RBI single through the right side to score Newhouser. Sullivan eventually scored on a wild pitch for the 3-0 advantage.
The Dolphins scored three unearned runs in the top of the third inning to tie the contest, and Staten Island moved ahead 4-3 with a run in the top of the fifth.
Moravian responded with four runs in the bottom half of the fifth inning to retake the lead. Dalickas started the inning with a single, and Schlosbon and George each followed with infield singles to load the bases. Freshman Jackie Marshall came in to pinch run for Dalickas. Sophomore left fielder Julie Siragusa dropped a three-RBI double down the left field line to clear the bases. Newhouser would eventually score Siragusa with an RBI sacrifice fly for an insurance run.
Freshman Amanda Carisone posted her 14th consecutive win in the circle for the Hounds, allowing four runs, just one earned, on four hits to go with eight strikeouts.
"Staten Island is a good team and we had to play a good game. We were fortunate to get some key hits and came up with two good pitching performances," commented Byrne. "We need to hit the ball a little more consistently and sharpen some things up defensively. They're a good team and two good wins against them. We need the same type of performance tomorrow against another regionally-ranked team."
Moravian is slated to return to action on Sunday, April 26 in a non-conference doubleheader at Neumann University starting at 2:00 p.m.
The Greyhounds did find out on Saturday that they will be the second seed in the 2015 Landmark Conference Tournament, finishing in a tie with Susquehanna University at 11-1 but losing a tiebreaker based on in-conference road winning percentage so the Crusaders will host the Landmark Tournament for the fourth straight year beginning on May 1. Moravian will face third seed The Catholic University of America in the second game of the day at 1:00 p.m. as the Cardinals won a coin flip with Elizabethtown College to determine the third and fourth seeds.
