CLERMONT, Fla. --- The Moravian College softball team split a pair of contests at the PFX Spring Games in Clermont, Florida Wednesday as the Greyhounds defeated Johnson & Wales (R.I.) University, 10-8, before falling to Eastern Nazarene (Mass.) College, 5-1, for the squad's first setback of the season.
Moravian, 5-1 on the year, won their fifth straight contest to begin the 2020 campaign in the opener versus Johnson & Wales. The Blue and Grey had 13 hits against the Wildcats with freshman shortstop Alexis Agrapides, sophomore pitcher/designated player Alexandria Scheeler and junior second baseman Shannon Brogan each going 2-for-4 with Agrapides scoring twice and Scheeler and Brogan each adding two RBIs. Junior third baseman Maddisen Bieber was 2-for-5 with two runs while sophomore right fielder Victoria Smith was 2-for-3 and junior catcher Brooke Wehr connected on a home run.
Scheeler improved to 3-0 in the circle as she had a pair of strikeouts in 4.1 innings of action. Freshman Madison Hummel recorded two strikeouts in 2.2 innings to earn her first career save in her collegiate debut.
The Hounds took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Agrapides drew a leadoff walk and scored when Scheeler reached on an error. Johnson & Wales answered with three runs in the bottom half of the first frame and two more in the second inning to take a 5-1 edge.
Moravian moved back in front with a five-run third inning. Stanilious drew a leadoff walk before Wehr connected on a two-run homer to center field, her first home run of the season and the 20th of her career, becoming just the fifth Greyhounds to reach 20 homers. Bieber had a single and scored on an RBI single from Brogan while Scheeler, who had walked, raced home on an RBI double from senior first baseman Lauren Goetz. Agrapides finished off the scoring with an RBI single to bring Brogan across the plate to put the Blue and Grey ahead for good.
The Hounds added a run in the fourth inning when Bieber led off with a single and scored on an RBI single off of Brogan's bat. Moravian added three more runs in the top of the fifth for a 10-5 edge. Scheeler drove in a pair of runs with a two-RBI single while Goetz was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score Wehr. Johnson & Wales scored three times in the bottom of the fifth before Hummel got out of the inning.
The Greyhounds had eight hits in the loss to Eastern Nazarene with Bieber going 2-for-3. Agrapides was 2-for-4 with an RBI in the game.
Senior pitcher Paige Lesher dropped her first decision of the year in the circle, allowing five runs, just two earned, on six hits and a walk to go with three strikeouts.
Eastern Nazarene scored all five of its runs in the top of the first inning. The Hounds answered with a run in the bottom of the second when Brogan led off with a single and race home on a two-out RBI single by Agrapides. However, Moravian was not able to get another run across the plate in the game.
The Greyhounds are slated to play two more games at the PFX Spring Games on Thursday, March 4 the squad plays Adrian (Mich.) College at 10:00 a.m. and Widener University at 12:15 p.m.
