Moravian Box Score
Mahwah, NJ – Friday afternoon at Ramapo College's Athletic Center, it was not just an NCAA Regional game played between Messiah and Moravian College.
It was an old-school rivalry.
Messiah bettered the former MAC Commonwealth Conference members by a 3-0 score, remaining in the winner's bracket of the double-elimination tournament thanks in large part to freshman pitching sensation Jessica Rhoads: Rhoads tossed her 22nd win of the season, limiting a hard-hitting Moravian side to just three base knocks.
She also put Messiah (37-4) on the board first, blasting her fourth homer of the year to start a three-run fourth inning.
"Our returning players somehow communicated to our freshmen that this game was even more than an NCAA Regional game," said Amy Weaver, Messiah head coach. "It dipped into that conference rivalry type of game, and it was something that I could feel just being around the older girls. By the time game time rolled around, I think our younger players could feel it, too."
Moravian (35-10) – which joined the newly-formed Landmark Conference just two seasons ago – obviously felt the rivalry early, as the Greyhounds loaded the bases in both the second and third innings. The initial scenario seemed to be the most pensive, as Rhoads found the bags juiced with no outs retired. She then struck out two consecutive batters, but needed a tremendous catch from sophomore Rebekkah Funk in center field to get out of the jam, as Funk streaked back to the wall to rob a blast from the Greyhounds' Maura Agnew.
In the third inning, Rhoads got Moravian's Amanda Paulus to pop up in foul territory, a catch junior third baseman Lindsay Hall made with ease to get out of the latter bases-loaded situation.
"You could tell those two innings kind of took the wind out of their sails," said Weaver, who did not make a trip to the pitcher's circle in either inning. "We have tremendous trust in (Rhoads') ability to pitch and to calm herself down, so we just let her go. She made some timely pitches and we made some timely defensive plays."
Messiah rolled up some offensive momentum in the fourth where, following a lead-off K to freshman Jaclyn Merkel, Rhoads homered to left field. That hit seemed to open the floodgates, as Hall followed with a single and junior Abby Bergakker reached via walk. Following a groundout from junior Nicole Adams that moved the runners to second and third, freshman Lauren Seneca reached on an error by Moravian's Stephanie Falzarano, scoring classmate Tiffany Stokes (who pinch ran for Hall).
With freshman Ashley Lehman up next, Weaver called for a bunt squeeze, which worked to perfection. Bergakker scored standing up, while Lehman made it to first without a throw.
Messiah's scoring frenzy may have continued, had it not been for a miraculous catch from the Greyhounds' Paulus. Freshman Abi Buchler hit a looper to shallow right, and it appeared that it would fall – scoring two more runs. Paulus dove and then rolled after somehow keeping the ball of the ground, drawing oohs from both sides of the stadium.
The damage, however, had been done.
Rhoads (22-1) mowed down the Moravian lineup in succession through the final three innings, forcing 12 fly outs, four ground outs and five strikeouts on the day.
"Moravian is a very good team, an incredible hitting team that has one of the best defenses in all of NCAA Division III," Weaver said. "We knew we'd have to play well, and with the exception of just a few situations, I thought we did. At this time of year, it usually comes down to a couple plays making the difference. That was certainly the case today."
While Rhoads shut down Moravian's offense, the same could be said of Messiah's bats, as the Falcons were limited to just three hits on the day. The Greyhounds did commit a costly three errors, however, while Messiah stayed mistake-free on the day.
The top-seeded Falcons now move on to face second-seeded William Paterson University Saturday afternoon, as the Pioneers defeated third-seeded Rowan University by a 2-1 score in Friday's final contest. Messiah and William Paterson will play for the right to advance to Sunday's championship game at 2 p.m. Saturday. Real-time score and schedule updates will be made at the official Ramapo College Regional website throughout the double-elimination tournament.
"William Paterson is a very good hitting team, and we respect them as hitters," Weaver said. "We'll try to let our pitching do it's job and see if we can put a few runs on the board."
