TUCSON, Ariz. --- The No. 17 Moravian College softball team swept a pair of five-inning games on its first day at the Tucson Invitational with a 9-1 victory over Husson (Maine) University to begin the day and a 10-2 win versus Bethany Lutheran (Minn.) College in the second contest.
Moravian opened the tournament with 10 hits in the win over Husson as freshman right fielder Brooke Wehr, senior catcher Janae Matos, junior center fielder Kat Spilman, freshman second baseman Shannon Brogan and junior third baseman Madison Shaneberger were each 2-for-3. Shaneberger added three RBIs and a pair of doubles while Brogan had a home run and two RBIs and Spilman added a double and two RBIs.
Senior Josie Novak evened her record at 2-2 on the season in the circle as she allowed a run on four hits and a walk to go with eight strikeouts.
The Blue and Grey jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Wehr led off with a single and scored on an RBI double from Matos as Matos became the eighth player in school history to record 100 career RBIs. After the second out of the inning, Brogan singled and both Matos and Brogan raced home on a two-RBI double by Shaneberger.
Husson scored its run in the top of the third inning to cut Moravian's lead to 3-1. The Greyhounds answered with three runs in the bottom half of the third frame for a 6-1 edge. Matos led off with a single and scored on an RBI double off of Spilman's bat. Brogan then hit an inside-the-park home run, her first collegiate homer, to score Spilman.
Moravian tacked on three runs in the bottom of the fourth for the NCAA eight-run rule. Wehr reached on an error as did Matos, who was pinch run for by sophomore Samantha O'Keefe. Spilman connected on an RBI single as Wehr crossed the plate, and Shaneberger ripped a two-RBI double to score O'Keefe and Spilman.
The Greyhounds connected on nine hits versus Bethany Lutheran with junior designated player Kaela Kane going 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored.
Senior Amanda Carisone improved to 3-1 in the circle as she allowed two runs, one earned, on four hits and a walk to go with two steikeouts.
The Hounds jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Kane reached on an error and raced home on an RBI double by Spilman. Brogan followed with an RBI single as Spilman crossed the plate, and Brogan scored when Shaneberger reached on an error.
The Blue and Grey extended the advantage to 4-0 in the second inning when freshman shortstop Maddisen Bieber reached on an error and scored on a bases loaded walk by Spilman.
Moravian added five runs in the bottom of the fourth frame to extend the lead to 9-0. Wehr drew a one-out walk and scored on an RBI double from Kane. Matos would draw a walk and O'Keefe came in to pinch run. Spilman connectyed on an RBI sacrifice fly to score Kane while O'Keefe would cross the plate on an RBI single by Shaneberger. Brogan, who had reached on an error, and Shaneberger scored on a two-RBI double by senior first baseman Jean Markovic.
Bethany Lutheran scored twice in the top of the fifth inning while the Hounds scored once in the bottom of the fifth for the NCAA eight-run rule for the second time of the day. Sophomore left fielder Emily Stanilious led off with a single and moved to second on an error before scoring the final run on an RBI single by Wehr.
The Greyhounds will continue their trip to the Tucson Invitational on Wednesday, March 7 with games against Northland (Wisc.) College at 11:00 a.m. and SUNY-Oneonta at 1:00 p.m. EST.
