Tuesday, April 12, 2011

MORAVIAN’S BRENDAN CLOSE HONORED AS ECAC DIVISION III SOUTH BASEBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK

CAPE COD, MA --- Junior pitcher Brendan Close (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom HS) of the Moravian College baseball team has been named the ECAC Division III South Baseball Pitcher of the Week for his performance last week.

Close, who earns the award for the third time in four weeks, was nearly perfect in his only action last week as he keeps his outstanding junior season going.  Close posted a 6-0 win over The University of Scranton, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out a school record 16 batters.  Close had a perfect game through 6 2/3 innings before allowing just his fourth walk of the season on a 3-2 pitch.  He kept the no-hitter through 8 2/3 innings before a slow grounder to shortstop was the only hit of the game.

The shutout was the sixth of Close's career, tying the school record and the 16 strikeouts made Close, who earned Landmark Conference Pitcher of the Week Honors for the fourth straight week, the first pitcher in the school history to surpass 200 career strikeouts, now with 203.  Close's season ERA dropped to 0.53, and he is 7-0 on the season.

The Greyhounds, 19-7 overall and 11-1 in Landmark Conference action, are scheduled to return to action on Wednesday, April 13th in a non-conference game versus FDU-Florham beginning at 3:30 p.m. at Gillespie Field.