BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College softball team is heading to the postseason for the 20th consecutive season as the Greyhounds earned the second seed for a third straight year in the 2014 Landmark Conference Tournament being hosted by top seed Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove this weekend.
The tournament begins on Friday, May 2 with Susquehanna playing fourth seed and Landmark newcomer Elizabethtown 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, faculty and staff with ID are free. Follow the tournament at http://www.gosusqu.com/sports/sball/2013-14/releases/landmark_champ which includes links to live stats and live video.
The Greyhounds are heading to the Landmark Tournament as the second seed for the third time in the seven-year history of the conference after being the top seed in the first four years of the conference. Moravian had won 14 consecutive conference championships including the first five in the Landmark before falling in two straight games a year ago, missing the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in 16 years.
Moravian, under the direction of 21-year head coach John Byrne, who as a career mark of 674-211, has posted a 28-6 overall record this spring, the 21st consecutive season that Moravian has won at least 23 games, and a 9-3 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 15th straight year and the 19th time in 20 years. Moravian posted NCAA 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.
"We have to hit the ball better against Catholic to start the tournament as their pitcher has had our number recently," Byrne said about the tournament's opening game opponent. "We have to figure out a way to score some runs against them. They have some nice young hitters that swing the bat pretty well. Our pitching has to shut them down offensively, and we have to score runs. In the games we've lost this year, we haven't been able to score.
"I think we match up well with all the teams in the tournament. Catholic, Susquehanna and Elizabethtown are all good teams, and we have to play our best to compete with them. If you make mistakes against any of them, it is going to come back and hurt you in the end," Byrne finished.
Moravian is hitting .389 entering the tournament, the top ranked batting average in the nation this week, with 363 hits including 116 extra-base hits including 74 doubles and 28 home runs for a .588 slugging percentage which is second in the country. Moravian has out-scored its opponents, 276-88, for an average of 8.12 runs per game, fourth in the nation in scoring, and the Greyhounds have a .957 fielding percentage. Moravian has posted seven shutouts in 28 wins.
Leading Moravian at the plate is junior first baseman Jenn Dalickas, who was named the 2014 Landmark Player of the Year and an All-Conference First Team honoree for the second straight season. Dalickas is hitting .510 with 51 hits, 37 runs, 11 doubles, two triples, a school record 12 homers, a school record 53 RBIs, a school record 102 total bases and a team-high 17 walks. She is second in the nation with a 1.020 slugging percentage, second in RBIs per game at 1.56, tied for seventh in homers, ninth in home runs per game at 0.35, 12th in on-base percentage at .581 and 13th in batting average. Dalickas also has a team high 196 putouts to go with six assists.
Senior third baseman Rachel DeLucia, an All-Conference First Team selection, is hitting .449 with 31 hits, 21 runs, seven doubles, six home runs and 25 RBIs. DeLucia is 38th in the country with a .812 slugging percentage this spring, and she has 42 assists and 18 putouts. Junior center fielder Dior George, named to the All-Conference First Team for a third consecutive spring, became just the 12th player in school history to reach 150 career hits this spring. She is hitting .443 with 43 hits, 42 runs to give her a school-record 143 runs scored in her career, 11 doubles, three triples, two round-trippers, 18 RBIs, 13 walks and six stolen bases. George, who is 15th in the nation in runs scored at 1.27 per game, has made 42 putouts and three assists this spring.
Sophomore left fielder Mary Schlosbon earned a spot on the Landmark All-Conference Second Team and is hitting .434 this spring with 33 hits, 24 runs, a double, three triples and eight RBIs. Schlosbon has also put down a team-leading 15 sacrifice bunts this spring, which is 11th in the country at 0.45 per game, and she has 27 putouts and one assist. Senior second baseman Eavan Matz made the Landmark All-Conference First Team and has a .407 average this year with 24 hits, 13 runs, four doubles, a homer and 17 RBIs, and Matz has a team high 55 assists in the field to go with 78 putouts.
Senior right fielder Miranda Sergas, an All-Conference Second Team honoree this season, is hitting at a .390 clip with 39 hits, 26 runs, nine doubles, one triple and 22 RBIs to go with 30 putouts and four assists while senior catcher/designated player Taylor Mihalik has a .359 average with 33 hits, 20 runs, nine doubles, three triples, 26 RBIs, 85 putouts and 11 assists.
Senior designated player/catcher Cassie Ernst, a First Team All-Conference selection at designated player, has a .354 average with 23 hits, 19 runs, six doubles, a homer, 15 RBIs, 12 walks and a team-high seven bit-by-pitch, while junior Lizzie Mack, who made the Landmark All-Conference First Team as a utility player after seeing action as a pitcher, first baseman, outfielder and designated player, is hitting .333 with 23 hits, 28 runs, six doubles, one triple, one home run, 19 RBIs and 10 walks. Ernst has 42 putouts and six assists behind the plate while Mack has contributed 13 putouts and 10 assists. Mack is also 4-0 in the circle with a 2.97 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 30.2 innings of action.
Sophomore pitcher Lindsay Sullivan, who made the All-Conference Second Team, is 8-0 this spring with two shutouts, a 1.92 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 43.2 innings, and Sullivan is hitting .423 with 11 hits, nine runs, a double and seven RBIs to go with 11 putouts and 12 assists in the field. Sophomore Carsin Conner leads the Moravian pitching staff with a 1.69 ERA, and she has a 7-2 mark, a shutout and 37 strikeouts in 49.2 innings while senior Elizabeth Tillou has tossed a team-high 72 innings with an 8-2 record, one save, two shutouts, a 1.75 ERA and 38 strikeouts. Tillou has a .375 average at the plate with nine hits, four runs, a double, a home run and six RBIs two go with two putouts and 26 assists while Conner has three hits, three runs, two homers and six RBIs along with four putouts and eight assists.
Freshman outfielder Julie Siragusa has a .400 average with 10 hits, six runs, two doubles and seven RBIs while senior shortstop Leann Ventriglia has eight this, five runs, two doubles, a homer and five RBIs. Ventriglia has also made 29 putouts and 51 assists while starting 22 games. Senior outfielder Melissa Cottone has six hits, three runs, two doubles, a triple, a homer and five RBIs as all eight members of the Greyhounds' senior class had hit at least one home run during their four-year careers.
Freshmen Chrissy Marinaro and Alexis Wiggley each have four hits in the debut seasons with Wiggley scoring four runs and added a double and two RBIs. Freshman infielder Lily Shontz has three hits, four runs, a double and two RBIs at the plate, and she has added nine assists and six assists in the field while freshman infielder Lizzie Deutsch has two runs, two hits and two RBIs to go with 23 putouts and 19 assists. Freshman Victoria Conner has added two hits, four runs and a pair of RBIs in her first season with the Greyhounds while freshman Niki Maffettone has one hits and a run while recording 12 putouts behind the plate. Sophomore Kiersten Cain is 1-2 in the circle in her first year in a Moravian uniform with 10 strikeouts in 16.2 innings of action.
