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| Sports News: Spring 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Wednesday, March 31, 2004 MORAVIAN SOFTBALL SQUAD JUMPS TO #1 IN FIRST STARKVILLE, MS --- The Moravian College softball team, which has won 15 consecutive games since losing its 2004 season opener, jumped from tenth in the preseason poll to the top spot in the nation in the first regular season National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III Top 25 Poll of the year released Wednesday. Eight NCAA Division III head coaches representing the eight NCAA regions vote on the NFCA Division III Top 25 poll. The Greyhounds received six first-place votes and a total of 191 points for the top spot eight points ahead of #2 East Texas Baptist University, which Moravian defeated 7-3 on March 14th to capture the championship at the 2004 NFCA Division III Leadoff Classic in LaGrange, Georgia from March 12th to 14th. In addition to the victory versus East Texas Baptist at the Leadoff Classic, the Greyhounds defeated #4 Alma (MI) College, 2-0, #12 Central (IA) College, 3-0 and #14 Methodist (NC) College, 11-3. Moravian’s only loss this season is a 3-2 defeat to #6 Christopher Newport University. Moravian, under the direction of head coach John Byrne, is 15-1 overall and 2-0 in Commonwealth Conference action this season. Coach Byrne, who has a career record of 308-111 in his 11th season at Moravian, earned the 300th victory of his career at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in the Greyhounds’ victory over Methodist. Moravian was ranked tenth in the NFCA preseason poll back that was released on February 11th after finishing the 2003 season as the ninth ranked Division III team in the country. Prior to earning the top spot this week; the highest the Greyhounds had ever been ranked in the NFCA Top 25 Poll was in 1998 when the squad spent two weeks as the eighth-ranked team in the country. Moravian still has one nationally ranked team on its remaining schedule this season. The Greyhounds are slated to travel to #14 Rowan (NJ) University for a non-conference doubleheader on Thursday, April 1st beginning at 2:30 p.m. The softball team is just the second-ever program at Moravian to be ranked as the top team in the country. The other team was the 2001 women’s cross country squad that spent six weeks at the top of the rankings. 2004 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III Top
25 Poll
Others receiving votes:King’s (PA) College 17, Keene State (NH) College 12, Linfield (OR) College 12, Ohio Wesleyan University 4, University of St. Thomas (MN) 3, University of Wisconsin-Superior 3. Dropped out:#6 Pacific Lutheran University, #14 Ithaca (NY) College, #15 California Lutheran University, #17 Keene State (NH) College, #18 William Paterson (NJ) University, #19 Western New England College, #21 Capital (OH) University, #23 Tufts (MA) University, #24 Coe (IA) College, #25 Western Connecticut State University |