Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Down 8-0 after three innings, The University of Scranton softball team almost came all the way back on Sunday morning at the 2021 Landmark Conference Championship game at fourth-ranked Moravian. But, the host Greyhounds fought off the comeback bid, taking a 9-8 thriller over the Royals.

With the tough defeat, Scranton ends an outstanding 2021 season with a 24-7 mark. Moravian, meanwhile, moved to 30-1 with the victory and clinched the Landmark's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Championship.

To start, Moravian pounced on Scranton out of the gate, opening a 5-0 lead in the first inning after a grand slam home run by Emily Siberman. The hits kept coming for the Greyhounds over the next two innings, as they opened up an 8-0 advantage on Scranton in the third after another home run, this time a two-run shot by Maddisen Bieber.

But, slowly, Scranton began to claw their way back into the game.

First, in the top of the fourth, junior Heather Alich (Bath, Pa./Northampton Area) scored graduate student Megan Zinn (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) from third on a sacrifice fly, making it an 8-1 game. After a quiet bottom of the fourth for Moravian, the Royals attacked in the fifth, scoring four runs to slice the Greyhound lead down to 8-5.

In the frame, Scranton capitalized off of some Moravian mistakes. First, freshman pinch-runner Meredith Lee (Nanuet, N.Y./Nanuet) scored on a Moravian throwing error to make it an 8-2 game. Then, an error by the Greyhounds' center fielder playing a single by graduate student Casey DeSarno (Wall Township, N.J./Wall) scored another Royals run, as sophomore Lauren Cawley (Duryea, Pa./Scranton Prep) came home on the play.

Then, with Zinn up, freshman Jessica Stadler (Monmouth Junction, N.J./South Brunswick) scored on a fielder's choice, making it an 8-4 game. With the bases loaded, freshman Sarah Stepnowski (Monroe Twp., N.J./Monroe) forced a bases-loaded walk to make it an 8-5 game, but the damage stopped there for Scranton in the fifth.

The bottom of the inning saw what turned out to be the game-winning hit take place, as Madison Wehr hit a solo home run to give the Greyhounds a 9-5 lead. Because, in the sixth, Scranton scored three runs to come within a single run of Moravian at 9-8.

In the sixth, Zinn had an RBI single that scored Stadler, then DeSarno scored on a wild pitch to make it a 9-7 game. With the bases loaded, Stepnowski once again recorded an RBI without swinging her bat, as she was hit by a pitch to score Zinn and make it a 9-8 game.

But, for the second straight inning, Moravian got out of a bases-loaded jam with two outs, as a ground out ended the Royals threat in the sixth.

After a quiet half-inning for Moravian, Scranton entered the seventh needing one run to tie and two to take the lead. Senior Maggie Donnelly (New Hyde Park, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy Academy) led off the inning with a single, but that was all the Royals could muster in the frame, as Moravian pitcher Meghan Bauer recorded three straight outs to clinch the Landmark title for the Greyhounds.

Overall, Alich ended a big weekend going 3-for-3 with an RBI, while Zinn in her final collegiate game went 2-for-4 with two RBI's and three runs scored, capping off an outstanding career for the center fielder at Scranton.

Elsewhere, sophomore Isabella Gorzkowski (Pittston, Pa./Scranton Prep) went 2-for-3, while Stepnowski ended an outstanding freshman season with two RBI's. In the circle, Sweeney took the loss, finishing her 2021 campaign with a 15-4 record.

The game was the final in the careers of Scranton's outstanding senior class that led the Royals to three Landmark Conference Championship series' and the Landmark crown in 2019. They were: Zinn, DeSarno, Donnelly, Meaghan Dowdell (Parlin, N.J./Old Bridge), and Allie Hotchkiss (Baldwinsville, N.Y./Charles W. Baker).

--ROYALS--