MAHWAH, NJ-Top-seeded Moravian College used a four-run
fourth inning to back the six-hit pitching of ace Meagan Hennessy and the
Greyhounds went on to defeat Union, 5-2, in a second-round game of the NCAA
Division III Eastern Regional Softball Tournament at Ramapo
College. Union
had won its morning opener, 4-3, in 10 innings against Staten Island.
The 24-4 Dutchwomen fall into the loser's bracket of this
double elimination event and will play Saturday (May 8) at 1 p.m. If it wins,
the Garnet would play again at 3 p.m.
Moravian, which is playing in its seventh consecutive NCAA
tournament, went into the game with a record of 34-4 and was ranked seventh in
the country. Among the Greyhounds' wins
are four victories over teams that had been ranked first in the nation at some
point during the recently concluded regular-season. Despite the success of 11th-year
head coach John Byrne, who has a career record of 328-116, he has never gotten
his Greyhounds into the World Series.
Trailing 2-1, Moravian sent nine batters to the plate in the
last of the seventh to score four runs on six hits, including the last five in
a row. Senior third basewoman Janelle Brey, the Greyhounds' all-time home run leader with 29, had
a two-run single while senior centerfielder Melissa Soroka
and sophomore first basewoman Richelle McWilliams
each singled in a run.
The Greyhounds, who went into the game having outscored
their previous 38 opponents by a margin of 196-57, got on the board in the last
of the first when junior shortstop Heather Bortz, who
entered the contest with a batting average of .500, was hit by a pitch, went to
second on a passed ball, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brey. Earlier this year Bortz
had established an NCAA all-division record by hitting in 44 consecutive
games. That streak was stopped 12 games
ago, but her base hit in the fourth extended her current string of 11
consecutive games with at least one hit and left her having hit safely in 55 of
the last 56 games.
Union tied the game in the top of the second when leadoff
hitter Colleen White singled and advanced to third on singles by Julie Gawronski, whose hit went to right field, and Katie Ratner, who beat out her sacrifice bunt attempt. Hennessy got the first out of the inning when
Brey caught a foul ball by her team's dugout.
Stephanie Rubino then plated White with a sacrifice
fly before Hennessy got out of trouble by inducing a fly ball to center.
The Dutchwomen took their lead in the fourth as White again
led off with a single and moved to second as Gawronski
beat out a hit on a ball that went in front of the plate and eluded both
Hennessy and catcher Danielle Carrione. Hennessy picked up her first out via the
strikeout route before a walk to Elise Nichols loaded the bases. Rubino came through
with a base hit to pick up her second RBI of the game while advancing the
runners. Unfortunately for Union,
Alicia Gifford, who drove in the winning run with a base hit in the last of the
10th in the morning contest, saw her fly ball to center turned into
an inning-ending double play.
Hennessy settled down following Union's
fourth and, including the double play ball, retired 10 in a row before pinch
hitter Jessica Lawton walked with two out in the seventh.
“That is a very good team,” said Union head coach Peter
Brown, who had expressed concern following the morning
contest that length of the first game and the heat and humidity of the day
would take a toll on his players midway through the
second contest.
“I thought we were a little sluggish at the plate, but I
also thought we stayed with them,” he explained. “They came into the game hitting .309 as a
team and they used some solid base hits to earn the runs they got. They came out on top this time. Hopefully we'll hve
the opportunity to meet them again this weekend.”