Hounds Knock off Elizabethtown Twice to Claim 6th Landmark Title
SELINSGROVE, Pa. --- The No. 24 ranked and second seed Moravian College softball team needed to win a pair of games against fourth seed Elizabethtown College in the championship round of the 2015 Landmark Conference Tournament hosted by Susquehanna University to claim the program’s sixth Landmark Conference title and first since 2012, and the Greyhounds did just, winning the first contest, 4-3, and taking the second, 12-2 in five innings, Saturday afternoon.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
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2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 2 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
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2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | X | 12 | 11 | 0 |
SELINSGROVE, Pa. --- The No. 24 ranked and second seed Moravian College softball team needed to win a pair of games against fourth seed Elizabethtown College in the championship round of the 2015 Landmark Conference Tournament hosted by Susquehanna University to claim the program's sixth Landmark Conference title and first since 2012, and the Greyhounds did just, winning the first contest, 4-3, and taking the second, 12-2 in five innings, Saturday afternoon.
Moravian, now 34-5 on the season and winners of three games on Saturday after knocking off the Crusaders in the final elimination game, 1-0, to make the championship round, receives an automatic berth to the 2015 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament. It will be the Greyhounds' 15th trip to the NCAA Tournament and first since 2012. Moravian, which was ranked second in the latest NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional Rankings, will find out on Monday, May 4 at 10:00 a.m. when the selection show airs on NCAA.com where it will be heading for the four-team regionals next weekend.
In the first championship game with Elizabethtown, the Blue & Grey had eight hits with sophomore left fielder Julie Siragusa going 3-for-4 and senior center fielder Dior George turning in a 2-for-4 performance with each player driving in two runs.
Moravian jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Senior first baseman Jenn Dalickas drew a walk to start the game, and she moved to second on a single by junior right fielder Mary Schlosbon. After a bunt from George moved the runners over, Siragusa delivered a two-RBI single to left center.
Dalickas would be named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after hitting .400 (4-for-10) with seven runs and two homers. She added a .684 on-base percentage as she drew five walks and was hit by a pitch four times.
The Blue & Grey would extend their lead to 4-0 with two more runs in the top of the fourth. Sophomore shortstop Lizzie Deutsch singled with one out and moved to second when Dalickas was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game. After an out, George connected on a two-RBI double to right field as Deutsch and Dalickas scored.
Moravian would need those two runs as the Blue Jays scored once in the fifth and twice in the sixth to close within a run before freshman Josie Novak earned her first career save as she tossed the final 1.2 innings.
Freshman Amanda Carisone won her 18th consecutive decision for the Greyhounds with five strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work.
Moravian would break out the bats in the in necessary game with 11 hits including four home runs. Sophomore third baseman Victoria Conner was 3-for-3 with two RBIs while Dalickas and freshman second baseman Megan Taylor were each 2-for-3.
Elizabethtown was the visitor for the second meeting and took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
The lead wouldn't last long as Dalickas led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run. It was Dalickas' ninth homer of the season and the 35th of her career, extending her school record, and it was also the 200th hit of Dalickas' career as she joined George and Heather Bortz '05 as the only players in school history to reach the 200-hit milestone. The Hounds weren't done in the inning as Conner would connect on a two-out RBI single to score Siragusa, who had walked.
Moravian made the lead 3-1 with a tally in the third inning when Sirgusa walked again with one out and raced home on an RBI double down the left field line by Conner.
After the Blue Jays pulled within a run in the top of the fourth, the Greyhounds plated nine runs in the bottom half of the inning for the NCAA eight-run rule and the conference title and the automatic berth that goes with it.
Taylor and Dalickas hit infield singles with one out, and Taylor scored when Schlosbon reached on an error. George followed with a two-RBI single as Dalickas and Schlosbon crossed the plate. After Siragusa reached on a fielder's choice, sophomore pinch hitter Abby Jeffries connected on a two-run homer, her second of the season. Conner came up and singled up the middle for her third hit of the contest, and freshman catcher Janae Matos hit her second homer of the season, a two-run shot. Deutsch was up next and singled to right field before Taylor ripped a two-run home run, her second of the season.
Novak picked up her second win of the day to go with a save as she improved to 16-4 in the circle. Novak struck out four in the complete game.
