DOYLESTOWN, Pa. --- The No. 8 Moravian College softball team posted another doubleheader sweep, defeating host Delaware Valley University, 4-0 in eight innings and 6-1, in non-conference action Tuesday afternoon.
The Greyhounds, now 28-2 overall, have swept their last eight doubleheaders and have won 10 of their last 17 games by shutout. Junior Josie Novak tossed her sixth straight shutout and tenth of the season, the fifth most in a single year in school history. Novak allowed two hits and two walks while striking out nine batters in her and the Hounds' first extra-inning game of the spring.
Moravian finished the opener eight hits as senior first baseman Abby Jeffries went 2-for-3 with an RBI while junior catcher Janae Matos was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and her team-leading 19th double of the season and the 34th of her career to move into a tie for eighth in school history.
The game was a pitcher's dual through the regulation seven innings before the Greyhounds struck for four runs in the top of the eighth inning. Starting the inning with sophomore second baseman Julia DeMarco on second base in the international tiebreaker, senior left fielder Julie Siragusa singled up the middle and advances to second on a throw to put a pair of runners in scoring position. After an out, Matos connected on a two-RBI double to center field as DeMarco and Siragusa scored. Junior outfielder Jackie Marshall came on to pinch run and raced home from second base on an RBI single by Jeffries. Freshman pinch runner Samantha O'Keefe would finish the scoring as she raced home on an RBI infield single by freshman center fielder Emily Stanilious.
In the second contest, junior Amanda Carisone won her 15th consecutive start of the season as she allowed an unearned run on one hit and a walk while striking our six batters.
Moravian added nine more hits in the second game with Jeffries going 3-for-3 with a triple. DeMarco was 2-for-2 in the game with two runs, a double and an RBI while Marshall was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
The Blue and Grey opened the scoring in the first inning when Matos singled with two outs and moved into scoring position on a single by Jeffries. Matos would advance to third on a wild pitch and scored on an error by the Aggies.
The Greyhounds added a run in the second inning when sophomore shortstop Kaela Kane was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score DeMarco, and the Hounds scored again in the third inning for a 3-0 lead when Jeffries tripled to lead off the frame and freshman pinch hitter Taylor Herman scored on a wild pitch.
Moravian tacked on three runs in the top of the fifth inning for a 6-0 edge on an RBI single by Stanilious that scored freshman pinch runner Colleen McCoy, an RBI double from DeMarco that chased Stanilious home and an RBI single from Marshall that plated DeMarco.
Delaware Valley pushed an unearned run across the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning that snapped a streak of 51 consecutive scoreless innings by Novak, Carisone and freshman pitcher Paige Lesher dating back to April 8.
Moravian is slated to return to action in a non-conference doubleheader at Eastern University on Thursday, April 20 beginning at 3:00 p.m.
