Hounds to Host Elizabethtown in Landmark Semifinal Series
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College baseball team is headed to the postseason for the seventh straight year as the second seeded Greyhounds will host third seed Elizabethtown College in a best-of-three semifinal series to begin the 2015 Landmark Conference Tournament at Gillespie Field on May 2-3.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College baseball team is headed to the postseason for the seventh straight year as the second seeded Greyhounds will host third seed Elizabethtown College in a best-of-three semifinal series to begin the 2015 Landmark Conference Tournament at Gillespie Field on May 2-3.
The Landmark Conference moved away from a traditional double elimination tournament this spring to a series format. The top two seeds, The University of Scranton and the Greyhounds will host Elizabethtown and fourth seeded The Catholic University of America in semifinal series this weekend with the two winners meeting on May 8-9 for another best-of-three series to determine the Landmark Conference Champion that will represent the conference in the 2015 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament.
The action in both semifinal series on Saturday will begin at 11:00 a.m. with a pair of nine-inning doubleheaders. If the teams split, there will be an if necessary game on Sunday, May 3 also starting at 11:00 a.m. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for seniors while children under 10 and all Landmark Conference students, faculty and staff with ID are free.
The Greyhounds, under the direction of ninth-year head coach Paul Engelhardt, who has a career mark of 212-149, have posted an 18-17 overall record this spring. Moravian posted a 13-8 slate in the Landmark regular season after starting the conference schedule at 0-5.
"We haven't had the type of season that we expected, especially with the start to conference play, but our guys fought back and made it to the tournament," stated Engelhardt. "We feel our weekend pitching staff is one of the best in the conference, and our hitting has been coming around recently. We're looking forward to the new format of the tournament since we have done well the last seven years in a three-game series setup in the regular season."
The Greyhounds are hitting .309 this spring with 355 hits including 57 doubles, eight triples and eight home runs, and the team also has 80 stolen bases and has a .946 fielding percentage this season. Moravian has four players in the starting line-up with 100 or more career hits including senior right fielder Matt Hanson who became the second player in Moravian history to reach 200 career hits last weekend.
Senior third baseman/designated hitter Ryan Luke leads the Hounds at the plate with a .364 average to go with 39 hits, 28 runs, six doubles, a triple, a homer, 14 RBIs and six stolen bases while junior catcher Mike Roethke is hitting .358 with 38 hits, 15 runs, six doubles, a triple, a home run, 11 walks and 21 RBIs. Roethke has thrown out 10 of 49 stolen base attempts this season. Senior left fielder Justin Pilchman has a .356 average with 37 hits, 22 runs, five doubles, a homer, a team-high 16 walks, 22 RBIs and nine stolen bases while junior third baseman Alex Bull is hitting .343 with 23 hits, 16 runs, four doubles, a team-leading two home runs and 15 RBIs.
Hanson has a team-high 45 hits this spring to go with a .341 batting average, 22 runs, six doubles, two triples, 12 walks, 20 stolen bases and 27 RBIs, and Hanson has set the school career record with 60 stolen bases, and he is one of three players on the team with over 100 career RBIs and just three runs scored shy of tying the school career mark. Senior shortstop Colin Case is hitting .333 this spring with 41 hits, a team-high 30 runs, five doubles, four triples, a homer, 16 walks, eight stolen bases and 27 RBIs while sophomore center fielder Anthony Gaetaniello has a .338 average with 40 hits, 28 runs, five doubles, 11 walks, 13 RBIs and a team-leading 24 stolen bases.
Junior first baseman Charles Savite has 36 hits this season to go with 19 runs, a team-high 10 doubles, a homer and 34 RBIs while senior second baseman Alex Longernecker has 23 hits, 18 runs, two doubles, a homer and 15 RBIs. Junior outfielder/designated hitter Cameron Leon has contributed 12 hits, nine runs, three doubles and six RBIs while senior outfielder/pitcher Chris Lansberry and freshman infielder David Wodzsiz each have five hits with Lansberry adding two runs, a double and three RBIs and Wodzsiz contributing three runs, a double and an RBI.
Moravian's pitching staff has a 4.00 ERA this spring and has posted a total of four shutouts while striking out 207 batters in 283.2 innings of action. The staff has been led by a trio of freshman this season with Dan Morrin leading the staff with a 1.32 ERA to go along with a 4-1 record, a shutout, 32 strikeouts and 11 walks in a team-high 47.2 innings. Ryan Kahn is 3-2 with a 1.69 ERA, two shutouts, 34 strikeouts and 14 walks in 42.2 innings on the mound while Nicholas Mazzella is 4-0 with a 3.83 ERA, 23 strikeouts and 17 walks in 40 innings.
Freshmen John Wiedmayer and Bryan Schoch have also had some impressive outings in their first collegiate seasons. Wiedmayer has tossed 29.2 innings with 28 strikeouts including 12 in his collegiate debut while Schoch is 1-0 with a 3.55 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 12.2 innings.
Junior Tommy Natale-Drown has a 1.86 ERA and a pair of strikeouts in 9.2 innings while junior Hunter Guard has a pair of saves, a 2.16 ERA, a 1-1 record and six strikeouts in 16.2 innings of action. Junior Brett Wagner moved to a reliever role this year and is 2-2 with a save, a 2.65 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 17 innings while junior Ian Carbone has added a 3.27 ERA and nine strikeouts in 11 innings of work.
Ampietro has tossed 20.1 innings with a 1-1 record and 13 strikeouts while Lansberry has pitched 8.1 innings. Freshman Adam Howard has logged 12.1 innings with 10 strikeouts in his first year at Moravian while junior Anthony Zaloga has 12 strikeouts in 10.1 innings for the Greyhounds.
