INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- The Moravian University softball team is set for its 20th appearance in the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament as the Greyhounds have been selected as a regional host for the first time with action Thursday through Saturday, May 16-18 at Blue & Grey Field in Bethlehem.
The action starts with the Greyhounds playing Penn College at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday. Roanoke (Va.) College and Muskingum (Ohio) University will battle at 2:30 p.m. Contests on Friday begin with the winners of the first two games playing at 1:00 a.m., with the winner of that game earning a berth in the championship round on Saturday. The losers of Thursday’s two games will play at 1:30 p.m. Friday with the final elimination game to start at 4:00 p.m. Friday. Saturday’s championship round has an 11:00 a.m. first pitch.
Admission to each day of the tournament is $10 for adults and $7 for minors ages 10-17 and seniors citizens. Children ages three to nine are $3 and children two and under are admitted free of charge. There will be an all tournament pass for $25. All ticketing will be done online at https://moravian.
Follow the tournament at https://www.moraviansports.com/sports/sball/2023-24/NCAARegional/index.
Moravian enters the NCAA Division III Regional for the 20th time, and the Hounds are 52-43 all-time in NCAA Tournament action. The Blue & Grey have won six NCAA Regionals including the Medford, Massachusetts Regional in 2023, competed in the Super Regionals three times with a title in 2023 in Cambridge, Massachusetts and reached the Championship Round four times including playing in the National Championship game in 2004 and an appearance last season at East Texas Baptist University.
The Greyhounds are guided by second-year head coach Josh Baltz, who has led the Blue & Grey to a 30-8 overall record this spring including a 13-3 mark to earn the top seed in the Landmark Conference Tournament, where the Hounds won their second straight and 11th Landmark Conference title and 19th overall conference championship since 2000. Baltz, who was named the 2024 Landmark Conference Co-Coach of the Year, is 68-20 in two years.
Moravian is hitting .338 entering the tournament with 359 hits including 104 extra-base hits with 57 doubles and a program record 34 home runs for a .512 slugging percentage. Moravian has outscored its opponents, 252-86, for an average of 6.63 runs per game, and the Greyhounds have a .972 fielding percentage. Moravian has posted nine shutouts in 30 wins for a 2.15 ERA, and the Hounds’ pitchers have recorded 174 strikeouts and just 39 walks in 241 innings this spring. Moravian has set a program record with 73 stolen bases this season.
Senior second baseman Ajala Elmore leads Moravian with a .444 to go with 36 hits, 24 runs, five doubles, five homers and 26 RBIs while sophomore right fielder Sarah DeStefano is hitting .429 average to go with 33 hits, ten runs, a double, two triples and 16 RBIs. Freshman center fielder Shayla Morgan has a .393 average with 22 hits, 20 runs, two RBIs and 19 stolen bases while junior first baseman Lindsey Gawrys has a .363 average, 45 hits, 35 runs, nine doubles, two triples, four homers and 20 RBIs.
Junior left fielder Sage Snyder is hitting .360 with 40 hits, 36 runs, eight doubles, two triples, four homers, 17 stolen bases and 20 RBIs while sophomore catcher Marcie Silberman has recorded a .354 average, 46 hits, 30 runs, 15 doubles, a school and Landmark Conference record 15 home runs and 51 RBIs this spring to go with 106 total bases to tie the school record. Senior designated player Emily Silberman has contributed a .343 average with 34 hits, four runs, a double, four homers and 30 RBIs.
Junior shortstop Holly Walter has 38 hits, 36 runs, five doubles, six triples, a homer, 12 stolen bases and 18 RBIs while sophomore third baseman Sydney Andrews has 25 hits, 12 runs, five doubles, a triple and 18 RBIs. Junior outfielder Jessica Forder has added ten hits, three runs, a double and four RBIs. Senior pitcher Madi Cunningham has ten hits, 11 runs, two doubles, homer and four RBIs while sophomore pitcher Natalie Otto has four hits, a run, a double and three RBIs.
Junior Ren Herschman has contributed four hits, two doubles, a run and two RBIs while sophomore Madison Berning has three hits and an RBI. Senior Mya Zettlemoyer has five runs, a hit, a double and an RBI while freshman Emma Grace Pachkowski has two hits, four runs and an RBI. Sophomore Hailey Tanner has four runs, two hits and an RBI while freshman Leah Chladny has registered four runs, a hit and an RBI and junior Jenna Lenko has a hit, a run and 2 RBIs. Freshman Madelin Cooper has scored five runs while freshman Cassandra Farrell has crossed the plate twice and sophomore Emma Wariwanchik has scored one run.
In the circle, Cunningham is 17-2 with 72 strikeouts, five shutouts and a 1.83 ERA in 115 innings of action while Otto has an 11-3 slate with 78 strikeouts, two shutouts and a 2.09 ERA in 90.1 innings. DeStefano has a 2-1 mark with 15 strikeouts and a 2.86 ERA in 22 innings while Andrews is 0-2 with two strikeouts in 5.1 innings. Kyra Holtje has seven strikeouts in 8.1 innings of action, as she has scored three runs and two hits at the plate.
