No. 18 Moravian Selected to Host No. 24 Randolph-Macon (Va.) in NCAA Division III Super Regional at Blue & Grey Field on May 22-23
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- The No. 18 Moravian University softball team is set for its fourth appearance in the NCAA Division III National Championship Super Regionals, and the Greyhounds have been selected as a Super Regional host for the first time in program history with the Hounds to welcome No. 24 Randolph-Macon (Va.) College on Thursday and Friday, May 22-23 at Blue & Grey Field in Bethlehem.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- The No. 18 Moravian University softball team is set for its fourth appearance in the NCAA Division III National Championship Super Regionals, and the Greyhounds have been selected as a Super Regional host for the first time in program history with the Hounds to welcome No. 24 Randolph-Macon (Va.) College on Thursday and Friday, May 22-23 at Blue & Grey Field in Bethlehem.
The best-of-three series starts with the Greyhounds and Yellow Jackets facing off on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. The squads will meet again on Friday at 1:00 p.m. with Randolph-Macon batting as the home team with the if necessary contest to follow at 3:30 p.m. the home squad will be deteremined by a coin flip called by the higher seed. The winner will advance to the 2025 NCAA Division III National Championship Finals at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois from May 29 through June 4.
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. 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/NCAASuperRegional/index.
Moravian is in its 21st trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament, and the Hounds are 56-45 all-time in NCAA Tournament action. The Blue & Grey have won seven NCAA Regionals including Bethlehem (Pa.) Regional this past week. The Greyhounds will be competing in the Super Regionals four the fourth time with a title in 2023 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Hounds have 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 39-7 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 108-29 in three years.
Moravian is hitting .356 entering the Super Regional with a school record 444 hits including 120 extra-base hits with 75 doubles, 18 triples and 27 home runs for a .510 slugging percentage. Moravian has outscored its opponents, 303-89, for an average of 6.59 runs per game, and the Greyhounds have a .977 fielding percentage. Moravian has posted 18 shutouts in 39 wins for a 1.67 ERA, and the Hounds' pitchers have recorded 225 strikeouts and just 76 walks in 298 innings this spring. Moravian has set program records with 444 hits, 105 stolen bases, 18 triples and 286 RBIs this season. By being selected as the host for the Super Regional, the Greyhounds will play at least 30 games at Blue & Grey Field for the first time in a single season in program history.
Senior right fielder Jessica Forder leads the Hounds with a .400 average, 24 hits, eight runs, five doubles, a homer and 12 RBIs while junior pitcher/right fielder Sarah DeStefano, who was selected as the Most Outstanding Player in the Bethlehem (Pa.) Regional, is hitting .397 average, 29 hits, 11 runs, six doubles, two triples and 20 RBIs at the plate. Junior catcher Marcie Silberman, who made the Bethlehem (Pa.) Regional All-Tournament Team, has posted a .396 average to go with 57 hits, 23 runs, six doubles, 16 homers to tie the single season program record and 51 RBIs, and Silberman has set the Moravian and Landmark Conference career records with 38 home runs in three seasons while junior third baseman Sydney Andrews is hitting .385 with 47 hits, 25 runs, five doubles, a triple and 30 RBIs.
Senior left fielder Sage Snyder, who made the Bethlehem (Pa.) Regional All-Tournament Team, has a .371 average with 46 hits, 38 runs, 12 doubles, a triple, a home run, 29 RBIs, 24 walks and 21 stolen bases while senior shortstop Holly Walter has registered a .364 average, 55 hits, 43 runs, eight doubles, five triples to become the all-time school record holder with 17 triples, a homer, 23 RBIs, 13 walks and 20 stolen bases to give her a school record 57 in her career, and Walter has a single season school record 127 assists to give her a school career mark of 359 assists. Graduate student second baseman Ajala Elmore is hitting .359 with 51 hits, 36 runs, 12 doubles, four triples, a homer, 31 RBIs and 16 stolen bases while breaking the school record in games played in a career, now with 181.
Sophomore center fielder Shayla Morgan has a .353 average with 36 hits, 24 runs, two triples, seven RBIs and 16 stolen bases while senior first baseman Lindsey Gawrys has posted a .333 average with 44 hits, 35 runs, 12 doubles, two triples, a homer, 23 walks and 31 RBIs to go with a single season school record 383 putouts to break the school record with 1,198 career putouts. Sophomore designated player/pitcher Kyra Holtje, who made the Bethlehem (Pa.) Regional All-Tournament Team, has contributed a .301 average, 34 hits, 26 runs, six doubles, four homers, 37 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 and 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 22-2 in the circle with a 1.02 ERA, one save, ten shutouts and 135 strikeouts in 158.1 innings while Holtje is 12-2 with a 1.94 ERA, three shutouts and 40 strikeouts in 79.1 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.
