Wednesday, March 11, 2009

MORAVIAN SOFTBALL SQUAD DROPS TO 25TH IN LATEST NFCA DIVISION III TOP 25 POLL     

STARKVILLE, MS --- The Moravian College softball team fell 14 spots to 25th in the nation in the second poll National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division III Top 25 Poll of the 2009 regular season released Wednesday. 

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, last year’s national runner-up, received six first-place votes and 195 points to hold down the top spot in the poll for a second straight week while The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, the defending national champion, received a first place vote and totaled 186 points to be second in the poll.  Louisiana College holds down the third spot in the poll after receiving 184 points.  Moravian, which was ranked 14th in the preseason poll and 11th in last week’s first regular season poll, received 30 points.

Moravian, under the direction of 16th-year head coach John Byrne, opened the season with a 6-4 record at the National Training Center in Clermont, Florida.  Three of the four losses were to teams in the top 25 as the Greyhounds fell to #11 Ohio Northern University, 1-0; #14 John Carroll (OH) University, 7-1, and #16 The University of Rochester (NY), 4-3 in eight innings.

Moravian is one of four teams from the East Region ranked with the Greyhounds being joined by 20th ranked Messiah College, 21st ranked York College of Pennsylvania and 22nd ranked Ursinus College.

The Greyhounds are scheduled to play York on Friday, March 13th 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.