SELINSGROVE, Pa. --- The second seeded Moravian College softball team was unable to finish off a seventh inning rally, falling to fourth seed Elizabethtown College, 7-6, in a winner's bracket game on the first day of the 2015 Landmark Conference Tournament hosted by Susquehanna University on Friday.
The No. 24 ranked Greyhounds, who saw their 16-game winning streak come to an end as they fell to 31-5 on the season, will play in the seconds and final elimination game of the tournament on Saturday before the championship round. First pitch is slated for 12:00 p.m., and the Hounds will play either the host Crusaders or third seed The Catholic University of America as those two squads will face off in the first elimination game at 10:00 a.m. Saturday. Elizabethtown is in the championship round at 2:00 p.m.
Moravian had eight hits in the contest with senior first baseman Jenn Dalickas going 2-for-2, sophomore designated player Abby Jeffries posting a 2-for-3 game and sophomore left fielder Julie Siragusa turning in a 2-for-4 performance.
The Blue Jays used three hits to open the game with a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
Moravian answered back with two runs in the home half of the first to take a 2-1 lead. Dalickas drew a walk to start the frame, and junior right fielder Mary Schlosbon was hit by a pitch. After an out, Siragusa ripped an RBI double to the gap in right center field that the centerfielder was unable to pull in as Dalickas scored. Senior second baseman Lizzie Mack followed with an RBI double to left field as Schlosbon scored the go ahead run.
The Greyhounds extended the lead to 3-1 in the second inning when Dalickas connected on a two-out solo home run to right field, her team-leading eighth homer of the spring and the 34th of her career to extend her own school record.
Elizabethtown scored four times in the top of the fifth inning to retake a 5-3 lead, and the Blue Jays added two more runs in the top of the sixth for a 7-3 advantage.
Moravian got a run back in the bottom of the sixth to cut the deficit to 7-4. Jeffries hit a one-out double and scored on an RBI pinch hit single by sophomore Niki Maffettone. Dalickas followed with a single, the 199th hit of her career, but the Hounds were unable to get another run in.
The Greyhounds would add two more runs in the bottom of the seventh but left the tying run at second base. Siragusa singled with one out but would be out when Mack reached on a fielder's choice. Sophomore shortstop Lizzie Deutsch was hit by a pitch before Jeffries connected on a two RBI double.
Freshman Josie Novak started in the circle for the Greyhounds, and she had three strikeouts in 4.2 innings of action. Freshman Amanda Carisone tossed the final 2.1 innings for the Hounds.
