CLERMONT, Fla. --- The Moravian College softball team pounded out 34 hits and scored 22 runs Wednesday while splitting a pair of contests at the Spring Games being played at the National Training Center in Clermont, Florida as the Hounds fell to Wartburg (Iowa) College, 8-6, in the opening game of the day before defeating Lebanon Valley College, 16-8 in six innings.
The Greyhounds had 11 hits including three home runs in the loss to Wartburg. Junior first baseman Lauren Goetz was 2-for-4 with two RBIs, a double and a homer while senior designated player Kat Spilman also went 2-for-4 with a home run. Sophomore shortstop Maddisen Bieber had a 2-for-3 game while senior third baseman Madison Shaneberger connected on a home run and drove in two runs and sophomore left fielder Shannon Brogan scored twice and had an RBI.
Freshman Alexandria Scheeler tossed six innings with six runs on ten hits to go with a walk and two strikeouts while sophomore Meghan Bauer tossed the final two-thirds of an inning with a pair of runs on two hits.
Wartburg took a 1-0 lead with a run in the bottom of the first inning.
The Hounds answered back with three runs in the top of the third to take a 3-1 edge. Junior right fielder Emily Stanilious hit a one-out single, stole second base and would race home on an RBI single off of Brogan's bat. Shaneberger followed with her first home run of the season and the ninth of her career.
The Knights cut the lead to 3-2 with a run in the bottom of the fourth but the Blue and Grey would get the run back in the top of the fifth frame when Spilman connected on a one-out solo homer, the 21st of her career.
Wartburg plated three runs in the bottom half of the fifth to take a 5-4 lead before Goetz led off the top of the sixth with a solo homer, her second home run of the season and fifth of her career to tie the score at 5-5.
The Knights moved back in front with a run in the bottom of the sixth while Moravian would knot the score again at 6-6 in the top of the seventh when Brogan reached on an error and scored from first base on an RBI double by Goetz.
Wartburg answered one more time with a two-out, two-run walk-off homer to finish the game.
The Greyhounds had a school record 23 hits including nine for extra bases in the victory over the Flying Dutchmen, and eight of the nine starters had two or more hits in the contest. Spilman was 4-for-5 with a triple and two RBIs to become the ninth player in school history to reach 100 career RBIs while Bieber went 4-for-4 with a double and two runs.
Stanilious posted a 3-for-5 game with a career-high six RBIs to go with a pair of doubles and two runs while Brogan was also 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs and sophomore catcher Brooke Wehr was 3-for-4 with three runs, two RBIs and a homer. Shaneberger and Scheeler were each 2-for-4 with Shaneberger connecting on two doubles and Scheeler ripping one double. Freshman center fielder Cameron Cassidy was 2-for-3 with two RBIs while Goetz scored twice.
Junior Paige Lesher earned the victory in the circle, allowing six runs, just two earned, on eight hits and two walks to go with a strikeout in 4.2 innings of action. Freshman Robin McCabe allowed a hit and an unearned run in a third of an inning while Scheeler tossed one inning with a run on two hits.
Wehr led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run, her first of the year and 13th of her career to move into a tie for seventh in school history as the Blue and Grey took a 1-0 lead.
Lebanon Valley answered with four runs in the top of the second inning to take a 4-1 edge. Moravian responded in the bottom of the second with two runs to pull within 4-3. Bieber doubled with two outs and scored on an RBI single from Wehr while Cassidy raced home on an RBI single from Stanilious.
The Flying Dutchmen plated a run in the top of the third inning for a 5-3 advantage, but the Greyhounds would use a six-run third inning to build a 9-5 lead. Brogan singled, and Shaneberger walked before Goetz reached on an error to allow Brogan to race home. Bieber added an RBI single to bring in Shaneberger while Goetz would score on an RBI ground out by Cassidy. After Wehr singled, Stanilious connected on a two-RBI double while Spilman finished off the inning with an RBI single.
The Hounds tacked on a run in the bottom of the fourth to push the edge to 10-5 when Goetz reached on an error and scored on a bunt single by Cassidy.
Lebanon Valley scored three times in the top of the six before the Greyhounds plated six more runs in the bottom of the sixth for the NCAA eight-run rule. Stanilious connected on a three-RBI double to drive in Wehr and pinch runners senior Julia DeMarco and freshman Victoria Smith. Spilman followed with an RBI triple before RBI doubles by Brogan and Shaneberger ended the game.
Moravian is slated to return to action at the Spring Game on Thursday, March 7 with contests versus Wittenberg (Ohio) University at 11:15 a.m. and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at 1:30 p.m.
