CLERMONT, Fla. --- The No. 19 ranked Moravian College softball team split a pair of contests at the Spring Games being played at the National Training Center in Clermont, Florida with the Greyhounds defeating St. Joseph's (Maine) College, 7-4, before falling to Millsaps (Miss.) College, 5-0, Thursday in the team's first loss of the 2016 season.
The Hounds, 7-1 on the year, pounded out 12 hits in the opener versus St. Joseph's with senior outfielder Mary Schlosbon going 3-for-4. Junior outfielder Madison Newhouser was 2-for-3 while junior outfielder Julie Siragusa, freshman shortstop Kaela Kane and freshman designated player Kat Spilman were each 2-for-4 with Siragusa driving in three runs.
Sophomore Josie Novak improved to 4-0 in the circle with the win as she allowed four runs on five hits and three walks to go with nine strikeouts to move into ninth in school history with 190 strikeouts in her career.
Moravian jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI double by Siragusa and an error by St. Joseph's that allowed two runs to score. The Greyhounds pushed the lead to 5-0 with two more runs on the second inning with Siragusa adding an RBI on a ground out and Spilman connecting on an RBI single.
St. Joseph's cut the lead to 5-2 with two runs in the top of the fourth but the Blue and Grey responded with two runs in the bottom half of the fourth to push the lead back to five runs. Siragusa ripped an RBI triple and would race home as the throw got away on the play. St. Joseph's scored the final two runs in the top of the sixth.
In the second game of the afternoon against Millsaps, Moravian had nine hits with Spilman going 3-for-4 and both Siragusa and sophomore catcher Janae Matos each turning in 2-for-3 performances with Siragusa connecting on a pair of doubles.
Sophomore Amanda Carisone took the loss in the circle for the Blue and Grey with five runs, just three earned, on nine hits and a walk to go with seven strikeouts.
Millsaps scored twice in the bottom of the first, twice in the third and once in the fifth for its five runs. Moravian left 10 runners on base including six in scoring position in the Blue and Grey's first loss after starting the season with a seven-game winning streak, the program's best start since the 2002 team began the season at 8-0.
Moravian will finish its trip to the Spring Games on Friday, March 11 when the Greyhounds take on Wittenberg University at 9:00 a.m. and Ohio Wesleyan University at 11:00 a.m.
