SELINSGROVE, Pa. --- The second seeded Moravian College softball team defended its Landmark Conference Championship with its fifth straight title after defeating top seed and host Susquehanna University, 8-0 in five innings, in the championship game Saturday afternoon at Sassafras Field in Selinsgrove.
The Greyhounds also captured their 13th straight conference championship and will be heading to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament for the 14th time in 15 years. Moravian will find out on Monday at 10:00 a.m. in the NCAA Division III selection show at http://www.ncaa.com to find out where they will play. Moravian could go to one of four NCAA Regional sites – Amherst (Mass.) College, Christopher Newport (Va.) University, Eastern Connecticut State University or Kean (N.J.) University.
In the Landmark Conference title game, the Greyhounds broke open a scoreless game with seven runs in the bottom of the third inning. Junior shortstop Brook Kowal led off with a single, and freshman outfielder Dior George followed with a walk. After a sacrifice bunt from sophomore outfielder Miranda Sergas, senior pitcher Jenna Carmon reached on an error to load the bases. Sophomore catcher Cassie Ernst was hit by a pitch to score Kowal before junior third baseman Shannen Mohr connected on a two-RBI single to score George and Carmon. Freshman designated player Jenn Dalickas followed with a two-RBI double to score Ernst and Mohr, and junior first baseman Amanda Dizinno connected on an RBI single to score Dalickas. Sophomore outfielder Taylor Mihalik reached on an error and would score when Kowal had an RBI double for her second hit of the inning.
Moravian added a run in the bottom of the fourth inning for an 8-0 lead. Carmon singled with one out and scored on a two-out RBI single from Dalickas.
The Greyhounds had a 7-1 edge in hits with Kowal going two-for-two and Dalickas going two-for-three. Mohr drew a walk in the game to break the school career record with her 67th career base on balls.
Carmon improved to 19-5 in the circle for Moravian with her 25th career shutout. Carmon allowed a hit while striking out two batters.
Susquehanna used three pitchers in the game with Morgan Lewis taking the loss after allowing five runs, four earned, on two hits and a walk in 2.1 innings of action.
