BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College softball team will be heading to the postseason for the 19th consecutive season as the Greyhounds have the second seed for the 2013 Landmark Conference Tournament being hosted by Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove this weekend.
The tournament begins on Friday, May 3rd with Susquehanna playing fourth seed Juniata College at 11:00 a.m. The Greyhounds will battle third seed The Catholic University of America at 1:00 p.m. and the winners of the first two games will play at 3:00 p.m. Friday, with the winner of that game earning a berth in the championship game at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. The losers of Friday's first two games will open Saturday's action at 9:00 a.m. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for seniors while children under 10 and all Landmark Conference students with ID are free.
The Greyhounds, who are the five-time defending Landmark Conference Champions, are heading to the Landmark Conference Tournament as the second seed for the second time in the six-year history of the conference after being the top seed in the first four years of the conference. Moravian enters the tournament looking for its 14th straight conference championship.
Moravian, under the direction of 20-year head coach John Byrne, who as a career mark of 646-203, has posted a 30-10 overall record this spring, the 20th consecutive season that Moravian has won at least 23 games, and a 7-3 mark in Landmark Conference action. The Greyhounds, which have won over 30 games 14 times under Byrne including the last 12 years, are in the conference tournament for the 14th straight year and the 18th time in 19 years. Moravian has also been in the NCAA Tournament 14 of the last 15 years including regional championships and berths in the 2007 and 2010 NCAA Division III World Series and a national runner-up finish at the 2004 Division III World Series.
Moravian is hitting .367 with 403 hits including 105 extra-base hits including 82 doubles. Moravian has out-scored its opponents, 276-106, and the Greyhounds have a .971 fielding percentage this season which is ranked fourth in the nation this week. Moravian has posted 15 shutouts in 30 wins.
Leading Moravian at the plate is sophomore outfielder/designated player Jenn Dalickas with a .455 average to go with 55 hits, 30 runs, 14 doubles, two triples, four homers and 35 RBI while sophomore outfielder Dior George also has 55 hits, a school record 54 runs, a .401 average, 14 doubles, two triples, two homers, nine stolen bases and 20 RBI. George picked up her 100th career hit in a sweep of Muhlenberg College, and she became the 30th player in school history and fourth sophomore to reach 100 career hits. George is one of three Greyhounds to reach 100 career hits in 2013.
Junior catcher/designated player Cassie Ernst has a team high 43 RBI along with 32 runs, 36 hits, ten doubles, two triples, two home runs, 15 walks, an NCAA Division III record 26 hit by pitch and a .371 average while junior outfielder Miranda Sergas is hitting .393 with 42 hits, 28 runs, nine doubles, a triple, a team high 18 sacrifice bunts, 11 walks and 20 RBI. Sergas and Ernst have also reached 100 career hits this season while Ernst and George are both a run shy of crossing the plate 100 times in their careers.
Senior first baseman Amanda Dizinno has 31 hits, 15 runs, three doubles, a triple, a homer, a .326 average and 20 RBI, and she has set the school record with 1,074 putouts in her career. Junior third baseman Rachel DeLucia has 20 hits with a .385 average, 13 runs, three doubles and eight RBI while freshman outfielder Mary Schlosbon has a .364 average, 16 hits, ten runs, a triple and seven RBI.
Senior third baseman Shannen Mohr is hitting .316 with 18 hits, eight runs, four doubles and 13 RBI in her final season. Junior outfielder/catcher Taylor Mihalik has 14 hits, three doubles, ten runs and 11 RBI while senior shortstop Brook Kowal has 16 hits, a double, a triple, six RBI and ten runs.
Senior pitcher/designated player Alyssa Fegely has a .328 average, 19 hits, ten runs, four doubles, a home run and 15 RBI, and in the circle, Fegely is 11-2 with a 1.74 ERA, seven shutouts, a no-hitter, 28 walks and 73 strikeouts in 80.2 innings of action. Freshman pitcher Lindsay Sullivan is 10-4 in the circle with a perfect game, a 2.62 ERA, 30 strikeouts and 12 walks in 88.1 innings. Sullivan also has a .348 average, 23 hits, 14 runs, seven doubles and 19 RBI at the plate while junior second baseman Eavan Matz has contributed nine hits, eight runs and 5 RBI to go along with a team high 60 assists in the field. Junior outfielder Melissa Cottone has contributed seven hits, six runs, a double and 2 RBI while junior infielder Leann Ventriglia has added eight hits, ten runs, 2 doubles and 5 RBI.
Sophomore infielder/pitcher Lizzie Mack has a 4-1 record, a shutout, 19 walks and 18 strikeouts in 32.1 innings while junior pitcher Elizabeth Tillou is 3-3 with three saves, 16 walks and 24 strikeouts in 41.2 innings. Mack has 25 hits, 16 runs, six doubles, a triple, a homer and 15 RBI at the plate while Tillou has seven hits, a run, a double and seven RBI. Freshman pitcher Carsin Conner is 2-0 in the circle with a 1.50 ERA, a walk and seven strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings but was injured during the team's spring break trip to the National Training Center in Florida and will miss the rest of the season. Conner also had two hits in four at-bats with a run, a triple and an RBI before her injury.
