BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University softball squad has earned the second seed in the 2022 Landmark Conference Tournament and will travel to The University of Scranton on Sunday, May 8 for the single-elimination tournament being hosted by the third seeded Royals due to the weather.
The Greyhounds, who enter the postseason with a 28-4 overall record and a 10-2 mark in the Landmark Conference regular season, are slated to play the second game on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. when the squad plays third seed Scranton. If the Hounds win that game, they will advance to the championship contest at 3:00 p.m. against the winner of top seed Susquehanna University and fourth seed The Catholic University of America game that will kick-off action on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. The tournament switched from its normal three-day, double-elimination format at Susquehanna to the single-day, single-elimination format on Sunday at Scranton, which has lights and a turf field, due to the rain forecasted for all day Friday and Saturday. Tickets for the tournament can be pre-purchased at https://landmarkconference.org/championships/tickets.
Moravian, which has won a total of nine Landmark Conference Championships, is the only program in the conference to make the tournament in each of the conference's 14 seasons with a tournament.
The Greyhounds, led by 29-year head coach John Byrne, who has a career slate of 922-256, have won at least 23 games for the 28th time, only missing the mark in 2020 when the season was cancelled after 10 games due to the pandemic.
The Hounds, who have won over 30 games 21 times under Byrne, are in the conference tournament for the 22nd consecutive season and the 27th time in 29 years. Moravian posted NCAA regional championships in the 2007 and 2010 to earn berths in NCAA Division III World Series and a national runner-up finish at the 2004 Division III World Series. The Hounds have also won regional championships in 2015 and 2018 to advance to the Super Regionals.
Moravian is hitting .339 entering the tournament with 298 hits including 86 extra-base hits with 46 doubles, 10 triples and 30 home runs, just three shy of tying the program record for a single season, for a .516 slugging percentage. The Hounds have outscored their opponents, 194-74, for an average of 6.06 runs per game, and the Greyhounds have a .982 fielding percentage. Moravian has posted eight shutouts in 28 wins for a 1.98 ERA, and the Hounds' pitchers have recorded 123 strikeouts and just 40 walks in 216 innings this spring.
Freshman first baseman Lindsey Gawrys leads Moravian with a .441 batting average to go with 45 hits, 25 runs, 30 RBIs, nine doubles, a triple and six homers. Senior shortstop Maddisen Bieber is hitting .376 with 35 hits, 22 runs, 19 RBIs and eight double while sophomore designated player Emily Silberman, who was selected to the Landmark All-Conference Second Team, has a .368 average, 35 hits, 33 RBIs, 14 runs, four doubles and nine homers.
Senior catcher Brooke Wehr, who earned a spot on the Landmark All-Conference First Team, has 43 hits, 25 runs, 24 RBIs, five doubles, three triples and seven homers to give her a school record 36 home runs in her career while senior outfielder Victoria Smith, who was named to the Landmark All-Conference Second Team, has 28 hits, 12 runs, nine RBIs, two doubles and two triples. Sophomore second baseman Ajala Elmore has contributed 28 hits, 20 runs, 20 RBIs, five doubles, two triples and three homers while sophomore outfielder Mya Zettlemoyer has 20 hits, 24 runs, 11 RBIs and four doubles in her first year with the program.
Freshman third baseman Holly Walter has added 22 hits, 16 runs, four doubles, a triple, six RBIs and a team-high five stolen bases while senior outfielder Cameron Cassidy has contributed 12 hits, 10 runs, a double, a triple and three RBIs. Freshman infielder Ren Herschman has added four hits, two runs, seven RBIs and a double while freshman outfielder Jessica Gonzalez-Forder has five hits, three runs and an RBI. Freshman outfielder Sage Snyder has three hits, seven runs and an RBI while senior shortstop Alexis Agrapides has three hits, three runs and a double and freshman catcher Jenna Lenko has a hit.
In the circle, junior Madison Hummel is 12-2 in the circle with a 1.65 ERA, 42 strikeouts and four shutouts in 95.1 innings while freshman Madi Cunningham, who was named to the Landmark All-Conference First Team and as the Landmark Conference Rookie of the Year, has a 16-1 record, a save, a 2.02 ERA, 77 strikeouts and four shutouts in 107.2 innings of action. At the plate, Cunningham has contributed 14 hits, 11 runs, 12 RBIs, two doubles and five homers. Senior pitcher Robin McCabe has four strikeouts in six innings of work while Silberman has tossed five innings.
