No. 17 Greyhounds Stave Off Elimination in NCAA Regional with Come-From-Behind Win vs. Mt. St. Mary
ITHACA, N.Y. --- The No. 17 ranked and second seeded Moravian College softball team rallied from a pair of deficits and staved off elimination in the NCAA Division III Ithaca, New York Regional with a 13-8 victory over fourth seed Mount Saint Mary (N.Y.) College Saturday afternoon in the final elimination game before the championship round.
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ITHACA, N.Y. --- The No. 17 ranked and second seeded Moravian College softball team rallied from a pair of deficits and staved off elimination in the NCAA Division III Ithaca, New York Regional with a 13-8 victory over fourth seed Mount Saint Mary (N.Y.) College Saturday afternoon in the final elimination game before the championship round.
The Greyhounds, now 37-5 on the year, advance to play the top seed and host Bombers from Ithaca on Sunday, at 11:00 a.m. The Blue and Grey will need two wins to advance to the NCAA Division III Super Regional for a second straight season while Ithaca needs just one victory to continue onto the final 16 of the tournament.
"It was a great comeback, and it started when Vic (Conner) hit that three-run homer," commented Head Coach John Byrne. "We finally got some people on base, moved them around and got it tied up. That gave the game new meaning at 3-3. We gave up four more but kept plugging away and the bats got hot."
The win was also the 750th for coach Byrne, who has a 750-226 record in 23 seasons including a 41-33 mark in NCAA Tournament games.
"Congratulations to Coach Byrne to on his 750th win," stated Director of Athletics & Recreation George L. Bright. "His work ethic, perseverance and effort have gone into all 750 wins. It is such a terrific milestone for any coach to achieve, and it is an honor to work with him everyday."
Moravian pounded out 12 hits in the contest with five players having two hits including freshman third baseman Madison Shaneberger going 2-for-2. Freshman shortstop Kaela Kane was 2-for-3 in the contest while junior designated player Victoria Conner and sophomore catcher Janae Matos were both 2-for-4 with Conner adding a homer and three RBIs. Junior left fielder Julie Siragusa was 2-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs.
Sophomore pitcher Amanda Carisone improved to 18-2 in the circle for the Blue and Grey this spring. She had three strikeouts in the win while allowing eight runs, seven earned on 14 hits and three walks.
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The Knights jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a run in the bottom of the first inning, and Mount Saint Mary added two more runs in the bottom of the third for a 3-0 lead.
The Greyhounds answered with three runs in the top of the fourth inning to tie the contest at 3-3. Siragusa led off with a single, and Matos followed with a single. Conner then connected on a three-run homer to left field, her fifth homer of the season for the Blue and Grey.
"I was just trying to get the runner from second to score and put the ball in play," Conner said. "It felt good to get the game tied up since we hadn't scored all day to that point. It was good to get some runs on the board."
The tie would be short lived as Mount Saint Mary answered back with four runs in the bottom of the fourth to move back in front, 7-3.
Moravian plated four runs in the top of the fifth to tie the game again at 7-7. Kane was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and she scored from first base on an RBI double by Shaneberger. After two outs in the inning, Matos ripped an RBI single to right center to score Shaneberger. Conner then reached on an error, and junior first baseman Jean Markovic connected on a two-RBI double to the fence in left center to tie the game.
The Hounds moved ahead for the first time with four runs in the top of the sixth inning. Senior right fielder Mary Schlosbon drew a walk to lead off the inning before Kane reached on a bunt single. Shaneberger put down sacrifice bunt but everyone was safe on the play to load the bases. After an out, Siragusa connected on a grand slam homer down the right field line to put Moravian in front, 11-7. The home run was Siragusa's third of the season and the first grand slam of her career.
"I just went in there thinking that I've got to hit the ball hard somewhere because I haven't been hot lately but needed to do something for my team," Siragusa said. "I thought it was going to hit the fence or go foul. I was excited."
The Knights scored once in the bottom half of the sixth inning to cut the Greyhounds' advantage to 11-8.
Moravian tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh to finish off the scoring. The Greyhounds loaded the bases through an error on a ball hit by freshman second baseman Julia DeMarco and walks by Kane and Shaneberger. Freshman center fielder Kat Spilman ripped a two-RBI single to left field to plate DeMarco and Kane with the final runs of the game.
"I hope we come back and get the bats hot, competed and leave their best effort out on the field," Byrne said when asked about Sunday's regional final. "We have to play better defense, and do all the little things. If we do that, we'll be fine especially if we can win every inning. It is a process, and we'll take it one inning and one game at a time. If we do that, we'll be in good shape."
