BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The No. 19 ranked Moravian College softball team earned its 22nd straight postseason appearance with a 6-3 victory in game one, and the Greyhounds' 6-1 win over visiting Susquehanna University Saturday afternoon on Senior Day at Blue & Grey Field clinched the top seed in the 2016 Landmark Conference Tournament for the Hounds.
Moravian has now win 14 straight games with its sweep of Susquehanna, and the Greyhounds are 9-1 in Landmark Conference action to hold all of the tiebreakers. Moravian will host the Landmark Conference Tournament at Blue & Grey Field on Friday, May 6 and Saturday, May 7 with the Hounds opening the tournament at 11:00 a.m. that Friday against the fourth seed. This will be Moravian's fifth time hosting the conference tournament but the first since 2011 as the program makes its 22nd postseason appearance under the direction of 23-year head coach John Byrne.
"Obviously we wanted the one win to get in the playoffs, and it will be nice to host here with that second win," commented Byrne. "We still have to go out to Juniata next Saturday to close out the conference schedule so we can't have any lapses. Overall today, the pitchers pitched well, and we hit the ball which we had to do today. The defense had a couple of bumps in the game, but overall we played well in a big game scenario so I'm happy with all of that."
Junior left fielder Julie Siragusa was 4-for-4 in the opener as Moravian had 14 hits. Freshman shortstop Kaela Kane was 2-for-2 while freshman third baseman Madison Shaneberger went 2-for-4.
Sophomore Josie Novak earned the win in the circle to improve to 13-1 on the year. She allowed three runs, just two earned, on nine hits and four walks to go with six strikeouts.
Moravian jumped out to an early lead in the first game with freshman center fielder Kat Spilman connecting on a three-run homer, her fourth home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning after Kane and Shaneberger had singled with one out. The Greyhounds extended the lead to 4-0 with a run in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI single off of Siragusa's bat.
Susquehanna scored three times in the top of the third inning to cut the Hounds advantage to a run. Moravian answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning when Kane connected on an RBI single, and the Greyhounds added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning when sophomore first baseman Jean Markovic had an RBI single. Both teams struggled with runners on base in the first contest as Moravian left 12 runners on including seven in scoring position and Susquehanna left 11 runners on base.
The Blue and Grey added another 13 hits in the second game with Spilman going 4-for-4 with three RBIs. Senior right fielder Mary Schlosbon was 3-for-3 with a pair of runs scored while Siragusa was 2-for-4 and Kane went 2-for-3.
Sophomore Amanda Carisone picked up her 12th win of the season in the circle for Moravian, allowing a run on five hits and no walks to go with four strikeouts.
The Hounds took another early lead in the second contest with a run in bottom of the first inning when Spilman connected on an RBI single to score Schlosbon. Moravian extended the lead to 3-0 with a pair of runs in the third frame. Spilman drove in Kane with an RBI single, and Siragusa delivered her school-record 16th double of the season to chase Shaneberger home.
The Greyhounds' lead moved to 4-0 in the fourth when freshman pinch runner Makenna Masenheimer scored on a throwing error. The Crusaders answered in the top of the fifth with a run to make it 4-1. Moravian then added a run in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI sacrifice fly from sophomore catcher Janae Matos, and the Blue and Grey finished the scoring in the sixth with another RBI single from Spilman.
Moravian is scheduled to return to action on Thursday, April 21 in a non-conference doubleheader versus Eastern University at Blue & Grey Field beginning at 3:00 p.m.
