Greyhounds Headed to Susquehanna for 2015 Landmark Tournament
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College softball team is heading to the postseason for the 21st straight season as the Greyhounds earned the second seed for a fourth consecutive year in the 2015 Landmark Conference Tournament being hosted by top seed Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove this weekend.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College softball team is heading to the postseason for the 21st straight season as the Greyhounds earned the second seed for a fourth consecutive year in the 2015 Landmark Conference Tournament being hosted by top seed Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove this weekend.
The tournament begins on Friday, May 1 with Susquehanna playing fourth seed Elizabethtown College at 11:00 a.m. The Greyhounds will battle third seed The Catholic University of America at 1:00 p.m. and the winners of the first two games will play at 3:00 p.m. Friday, with the winner of that game earning a berth in the championship game at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. The losers of Friday's first two games will open Saturday's action at 9:00 a.m. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for seniors while children under 10 and all Landmark Conference students, faculty and staff with ID are free. Follow the tournament at http://www.gosusqu.com/sports/sball/2014-15/releases/landmark_champ.
The Greyhounds are heading to the Landmark Tournament as the second seed for the fourth time in the eight-year history of the conference after being the top seed in the first four years of the conference. Moravian had won 14 consecutive conference championships including the first five in the Landmark before being knocked out of the conference tournament early last spring, missing the NCAA Tournament for just the third time in 17 years.
Moravian, under the direction of 22-year head coach John Byrne, who earned his 700th career win on April 25 and has a career slate of 705-217, has posted a 30-4 overall record this spring, the 22nd consecutive season that Moravian has won at least 23 games, and an11-1 mark in Landmark Conference action. The Blue & Grey are also ranked No. 24 in the nation in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III Top 25 poll, and Moravian is ranked second in the Atlantic Region in this week's NCAA Division III Regional Rankings.
The Greyhounds, which have won over 30 games 16 times under Byrne, are in the conference tournament for the 16th straight year and the 20th time in 21 years. Moravian posted NCAA regional championships and berths in the 2007 and 2010 NCAA Division III World Series and a national runner-up finish at the 2004 Division III World Series.
"We have to keep hitting the ball, and get our pitching staff some runs since we know they are going to keep us in every game like they have all season," Byrne said. "We also have to make plays in the field and limit any mistakes that may come. I think we match up well with all the teams in the tournament. Catholic, Susquehanna and Elizabethtown are all good teams, and we have to play our best to compete with them. If you make mistakes against any of them, it is going to come back and hurt you in the end."
Moravian is hitting .331 entering the tournament with 300 hits including 76 extra-base hits including 51 doubles and 20 home runs for a .465 slugging percentage. Moravian has out-scored its opponents, 211-72, for an average of 7.08 runs per game, and the Greyhounds have a .967 fielding percentage. Moravian has posted 11 shutouts in 30 wins and the squad is sixth in the nation with a 1.21 ERA, and the Hounds' pitchers have recorded 223 strikeouts and just 37 walks this spring.
Leading Moravian at the plate is senior first baseman Jenn Dalickas, who was named the 2015 Landmark Player of the Year for a second straight year and an All-Conference First Team honoree for the third time in her career. Dalickas is hitting .523 with 45 hits, 34 runs, 12 doubles, seven homers, 30 RBIs, 78 total bases and a school record 37 walks. She is 14th in the nation with a .907 slugging percentage and first in on-base percentage at .664. Dalickas also has a team-high 174 putouts to go with eight assists. She has set the school career home run record with 33 and the career total bases with 357, and Dalickas is tied for the school mark in walks with 74, second all-time with 156 RBIs and 51 doubles and third with 197 hits.
Junior right fielder Mary Schlosbon earned a spot on the Landmark All-Conference First Team and is hitting .398 this spring with 41 hits, 29 runs, a double, two triples and 15 RBIs. Schlosbon has also put down a team-leading 18 sacrifice bunts this spring, and she has seven stolen bases and 32 putouts. Senior center fielder Dior George, who was named to the All-Conference First Team for a fourth consecutive spring, became just the second player in school history to reach 200 career hits this spring. She is hitting .382 with 42 hits, 37 runs to give her a school-record 180 runs scored in her career, five doubles, one triple, six homers, 29 RBIs, 11 walks and eight stolen bases. George has made 36 putouts this spring.
Sophomore left fielder Julie Siragusa has a .337 average with 30 hits, 17 runs, six doubles, one home run, 16 RBIs and 13 walks in her first season as a starter while junior infielder Lindsay Sullivan, who made the All-Conference Second Team for a second straight year, has a .329 average with 23 hits, eight runs, three doubles and six RBIs to go with 36 putouts and 15 assists. Senior infielder Lizzie Mack is hitting .295 with 23 hits, 14 runs, eight doubles, two triples, one home run, 27 RBIs and 12 walks.
Sophomore third baseman Victoria Conner is hitting .520 with 13 hits, six runs, four doubles and six RBIs while sophomore shortstop Madison Newhouser has a .364 average with 12 hits, nine runs, two doubles and six RBIs after returning to the lineup as she missed 23 games with an injury. Sophomore catcher Niki Maffetone has 12 hits, five runs and five RBIs while recording 78 putouts behind the plate while sophomore designated player Abby Jeffries has 21 hits, 10 runs, five doubles, a homer and 23 RBIs.
Sophomore infielder Chrissy Mariano has contributed 13 hits, seven runs, a double, a homer and 11 RBIs while freshman catcher Janae Matos has 11 hits, 12 runs, three doubles, one home run and 11 RBIs to go with 156 putouts this spring. Sophomore infielder Lizzie Deutsch has added seven hits, 12 runs and two RBIs while freshman infielder Megan Taylor has six hits, eight runs, a double, a homer and six RBIs. Freshman Jackie Marshall has scored three runs and added a hit while junior Kiersten Cain and freshmen Jessica D'Agostino and Jean Markovic each have contributed for the Greyhounds this season.
