No. 18 Moravian Set to Host NCAA Division III Regional at Blue & Grey Field from May 15-17
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- The Moravian University softball team is set for its 21st appearance in the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament as the Greyhounds have been selected as a regional host for the second straight spring with action Thursday through Saturday, May 15-17 at Blue & Grey Field in Bethlehem.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- The Moravian University softball team is set for its 21st appearance in the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament as the Greyhounds have been selected as a regional host for the second straight spring with action Thursday through Saturday, May 15-17 at Blue & Grey Field in Bethlehem.
The action starts with the Greyhounds playing Worcester State (Mass.) University at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday. Eastern (Pa.) University and Williams (Mass.) College will battle at 2:30 p.m. Contests on Friday begin with the winners of the first two games playing at 11:00 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 62 and older. Children ages three to nine at $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://www.moraviansports.com/information/tickets, and there will be no cash accepted on site. Ticket prices are set by the NCAA.
Follow the tournament at https://www.moraviansports.com/sports/sball/2024-25/NCAARegional/index.
Moravian enters the NCAA Division III Regional for the 21st time, and the Hounds are 53-45 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 in 2023 at East Texas Baptist University.
The Greyhounds are guided by third-year head coach Josh Baltz, who has led the Blue & Grey to a 36-7 overall record this spring including a 13-3 mark to earn the top seed in the Landmark Conference Tournament, where the Hounds won their third straight and 12th Landmark Conference title and 20th overall conference championship since 2000. Baltz, who was named the 2025 Landmark Conference Coach of the Year, is 105-29 in three years.
Moravian is hitting .358 entering the tournament with 421 hits including 112 extra-base hits with 70 doubles, 18 triples and 23 home runs for a .509 slugging percentage. Moravian has outscored its opponents, 289-86, for an average of 6.72 runs per game, and the Greyhounds have a .979 fielding percentage. Moravian has posted 17 shutouts in 36 wins for a 1.76 ERA, and the Hounds' pitchers have recorded 215 strikeouts and just 74 walks in 279 innings this spring. Moravian has set program records with 97 stolen bases, 18 triples and 272 RBIs this season.
Junior pitcher/right fielder Sarah DeStefano leads the Hounds with a .422 average, 27 hits, ten runs, five doubles and 19 RBIs at the plate senior right fielder Jessica Forder has a .407 average, 24 hits, eight runs, five doubles, a homer and 12 RBIs. Junior catcher Marcie Silberman has posted a .400 average to go with 54 hits, 21 runs, six doubles, 14 homers and 45 RBIs, and Silberman has tied the Moravian and Landmark Conference career records with 36 home runs in three seasons while junior third baseman Sydney Andrews is hitting .391 with 45 hits, 24 runs, four doubles, a triple and 29 RBIs.
Graduate student second baseman Ajala Elmore is hitting .363 with 49 hits, 34 runs, 11 doubles, four triples, a homer, 31 RBIs and 14 stolen bases while breaking the school record in games played in a career, now with 178. Senior shortstop Holly Walter has registered a .362 average, 51 hits, 41 runs, eight doubles, five triples to become the all-time school record holder with 17 triples, 21 RBIs, 13 walks and 19 stolen bases to give her a school record 56 in her career, and Walter has a single season school record 124 assists to give her a school career mark of 356 assists.
Senior left fielder Sage Snyder has a .359 average with 42 hits, 37 runs, 11 doubles, a triple, a home run, 27 RBIs, 22 walks and 19 stolen bases while sophomore center fielder Shayla Morgan has a .358 average with 34 hits, 22 runs, two triples, seven RBIs and 16 stolen bases while. Senior first baseman Lindsey Gawrys has a .333 average with 42 hits, 32 runs, 11 doubles, two triples, a homer, 20 walks and 30 RBIs to go with 356 putouts to break the school record with 1,171 career putouts while sophomore designated player/pitcher Kyra Holtje has contributed a .305 average, 32 hits, 26 runs, six doubles, four homers, 36 RBIs and nine walks.
Freshman first baseman Kaley Hoffman has 11 hits, four runs, a triple, two homers and eight RBIs while junior outfielder Madison Berning has added five hits, three runs, a pair of doubles and three RBIs. Sophomore outfielder Leah Chladny has collected four hits, two runs & two RBIs while sophomore first baseman Gillian Slowinski has one hit. Sophomore outfielder Madelin Cooper has crossed the plate 14 times while sophomore infielder Cassandra Farrell has scored ten runs and added six stolen bases and sophomore infielder Emma Grace Pachkowski has scored a run.
DeStefano is 20-2 in the circle with a 1.06 ERA, nine shutouts and 126 strikeouts in 145 innings while Holtje is 11-2 with a 2.09 ERA, three shutouts and 39 strikeouts in 73.2 innings. Junior Natalie Otto is 3-1 with 41 strikeouts and two shutouts in 41 innings while Andrews has tossed 18.1 innings with a 2-2 mark and eight strikeouts. Freshman Riley Robinson has one strikeout in her only inning of action while combining on a shutout with Otto. Holtje and Otto and DeStefano and Otto have also combined on shutouts.
