Wednesday, January 30, 2008

MORAVIAN SOFTBALL SQUAD RANKED 6TH IN 2008 NFCA DIVISION III PRESEASON POLL

STARKVILLE, MS --- The Moravian College softball team has been ranked sixth in the nation in the 2008 National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division III Preseason Top 25 Poll released Wednesday. 

Linfield (OR) College, last year’s national championship team, received all eight first-place votes and 200 points to hold down the top spot in the poll while Wartburg (IA) College totaled 176 points to be second in the poll.  SUNY Plattsburgh holds down the third spot in the poll after receiving 170 points.  Moravian received 155 points in the preseason poll, just three points behind Louisiana College and the University of St. Thomas (MN), which were tied for fourth at 158 points.

Moravian, under the direction of 15th-year head coach John Byrne (442-141), returns 11 players and seven starters from last year’s 35-7 squad that made its tenth consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament and a second trip to the NCAA Division III World Series in the last four seasons.  The Greyhounds have added seven talented newcomers to the roster.

Moravian is one of three teams from the East Region ranked with the Greyhounds being joined by 16th-ranked Ramapo College of New Jersey and 22nd-ranked Montclair State University.

The Greyhounds, who begin their 2008 season at the Beach Bash in Virginia Beach, Virginia on Friday, February 29th and Saturday, March 1st, will play one team ranked in the NFCA Preseason Poll.  Moravian is scheduled to play 11th-ranked Lynchburg College on Saturday, March 1st at 3:00 p.m., and the Greyhounds will play Lynchburg again on Friday, March 7th at 12:00 p.m. on the first day of the Salisbury Seagull Classic in Salisbury, Maryland.

The complete poll can be found at http://nfca.org/top25/index.php?cat_id=3.