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Sports News: Spring 2010

Monday, May 17, 2010

FIVE GREYHOUNDS NAMED TO LANDMARK BASEBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS;
Morrison Named Pitcher of the Year; Engelhardt Earns Coaching Staff of the Year

            MADISON, NJ --- The Moravian College baseball team placed two players on the 2010 Landmark Baseball All-Conference First Team and three more on the Second Team while senior pitcher Chris Morrison (Middlesex, NJ/Immaculata HS) earned Landmark Conference Pitcher of the Year honors as released by the conference office.
            Morrison, pictured at right, and junior third baseman Jon Baltz (Easton, PA/Easton HS) were all named to the Landmark All-Conference First Team.  Sophomore first baseman Kevin O’Keefe (Alexandra, VA/Bishop Ireton HS), sophomore shortstop Dave Zubia (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) and sophomore pitcher Brendan Close (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom HS) each earned a spot on the Landmark All-Conference Second Team.
            The Greyhounds under the direction of fourth-year head coach Paul Engelhardt, pictured at left, have a 26-13 overall record this spring, a school record for victories in a season.  Engelhardt and his assistant coaches Scott Stewart, Ian Law, John Connell and Jim Trach were named the Landmark Conference Coaching Staff of the Year.
            Moravian also had a 14-4 mark in the Landmark Conference regular season to earn the top seed in the Landmark Conference Tournament, which the Greyhounds won in three games to clinch the squad’s first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament berth.  Moravian will play top-seed and top ranked Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday, May 19th at 1:15 p.m. in the opening day of the NCAA Regional hosted by Kean University in Trenton, New Jersey.
            Morrison, who was on the 2008 Landmark All-Conference Second Team, is 7-1 record with a shutout, five complete games, a 2.08 ERA, 21 walks and 54 strikeouts in 60 2/3 innings.  Morrison has tied the single season record for wins, and he is second all-time with 15 wins in his career.  Morrison also has 118 career strikeouts over three seasons.
            Baltz, pictured at right, has a .327 average this year to go along with 50 hits, 35 runs, nine doubles and 26 RBIs.  He also has a .386 slugging percentage, 13 walks, four sacrifice bunts and three stolen bases.  Baltz has 25 putouts and 78 assists while starting all 39 games at third base, the only Moravian player to play in every contest this season.
                O'Keefe, who was the 2009 Landmark Conference Rookie of the Year and a member of the All-Conference First Team a year ago, has a .388 average to go with 50 hits, 28 runs, 13 doubles, a triple, five homers, 17 stolen bases, 21 walks and 40 RBIs.  He also has a .620 slugging percentage and a .464 on-base percentage while posting 195 putouts and 12 assists in the field.  O'Keefe, pictured at left, has 106 hits, the 16th player to get 100 hits and the first sophomore, and 99 RBIs, needing just one to become the second player in school history to reach 100 career RBIs.  On the mound, O’Keefe has a 3-1 record with 14 walks and 15 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings of action this spring.
            Zubia, pictured at right, also has a .388 average to go along with 33 hits, 21 runs, three doubles, a triple, eight stolen bases and ten RBIs.  Zubia, who missed the first 13 games of the season with an injury, has a .447 slugging percentage, 11 walks and a .485 on-base percentage since joining the line-up.  He also has 35 putouts and 68 assists on the season.
            Close, who was on the Landmark All-Conference First Team a year ago, is 5-0 with a 3.33 ERA, a shutout, four complete games, ten walks and 52 strikeouts in 48 2/3 innings.  Close, pictured at left, has a 12-2 career record, the fourth most wins in school history, and he has recorded three shutouts and 130 strikeouts in 111 1/3 innings over the last two seasons.