Mack Leads Offensive Attack in 13-2 Victory vs. Marywood
CLERMONT, Fla. – Junior left fielder Lizzie Mack smacked a home run and drove in four runs to lead the Moravian College softball team to a 13-2, five-inning win over Marywood University on Saturday in the Spring Games at the National Training Center.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E |
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0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
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4 | 3 | 6 | 0 | X | 13 | 15 | 0 |
CLERMONT, Fla. – Junior left fielder Lizzie Mack smacked a home run and drove in four runs to lead the Moravian College softball team to a 13-2, five-inning win over Marywood University on Saturday in the Spring Games at the National Training Center.
The Greyhounds (2-0) completed a perfect season-opening doubleheader by unleashing the bats early and often in support of sophomore starting pitcher Lindsay Sullivan, who picked up the win after three innings, scattering four hits and striking out one. Senior first baseman Jenn Dalickas had two of Moravian's 15 hits to notch the 100th hit of her career.
Mack launched a long two-run home run over the left field fence in the bottom of the first inning to bring home junior center fielder Dior George.
"It always feels good to hit one out," said Mack, who went 2-for-3 with three runs scored. "I had two strikes in the at-bat, so I was trying to protect and hit something solid. There were runners on base, so I really wanted to bring it home. Hopefully we'll keep up this good work and score a lot more runs. We meshed well together as a team and that was a big contributor to our success today. We communicated very well and we were aggressive at the plate."
Moravian would add two more in the inning after senior catcher Taylor Mihalik tripled home senior Cassie Ernst, and Sullivan plated Mihalik with a single to left field.
Marywood chipped away at the lead in their half of the second inning with two runs, but the Greyhounds had an immediate answer by scoring three more in the bottom half. Ernst, Dalickas and Mihalik recorded RBIs in consecutive at-bats as the Hounds took a 7-2 lead.
"These players are going to hit the ball, we know that," head coach John Byrne said. "We're going to need that. I really liked the way Taylor and Cassie swung the bat today. Jenn hit the ball hard in our second game today. It's always good to win with offense like that, and we got some solid pitching to back it up."
Senior pitcher Elizabeth Tillou came on for a perfect two innings with two strikeouts to close out the victory.
The eight-run rule was in effect after the Greyhounds added six more runs in the bottom of the third. Mack ripped a two-RBI single on the ground through the left side of the infield to plate senior second baseman Eavan Matz and senior third baseman Leann Ventriglia. Ernst followed with an RBI single up the middle and Dalickas got her 100th career hit on a ground rule double to center field to score Mack.
Sullivan capped the onslaught with a two-RBI single to set the score at 13-2.
"It was very important to get out to the start that we did today with two wins," Mack said. "We needed that fire and drive to get through these first couple of games heading into a long week. We got back to it today and we hope we're on our way to a championship season."
Ernst finished the game with three runs after going 2-for-2 with two RBIs. Dalickas and Mahilak each drove home two, while George was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
The Greyhounds will enjoy an off day in Florida on Tuesday before getting back to the diamond at the Spring Games on Wednesday with a doubleheader. The first game is scheduled for 9 a.m. with Grove City College with second immediately after against Houghton (N.Y.) College.
