Thursday, May 5, 2011

MORAVIAN’S ROCK, ZUBIA & CLOSE NAMED TO CAPITAL ONE ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT BASEBALL TEAMS

BETHLEHEM, PA --- Junior catcher Austin Rock (Arlington, VA/Flour Bluff {TX} HS and senior outfielder Mike Zubia (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) have been named to the 2011 Capital One Academic All-District II College Division Baseball First Team selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America while junior pitcher Brendan Close (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom HS) earned a spot on the Second Team.

By making the All-District First Team, Rock and Zubia are now forwarded onto the national ballot to try for Capital One Academic All-American® accolades, which will be announced on Tuesday, May 24th.  Moravian has had 34 Capital One Academic All-Americans including 29 in the last 17 years.

To be eligible for Capital One Academic All-America® accolades, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.30 grade-point average, be a sophomore, junior or senior and be a starter or significant reserve. The College Division is made up of all the NCAA Division II and III schools in the nation as well as all NAIA schools.  Student-athletes from NCAA Division I schools are named to the University Division Teams.  District II is made up of schools from Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Rock, pictured at right, has contributed a .368 average, 25 hits, 17 runs, five doubles, a triple, a home run and 16 RBIs.  He was a member of the Landmark Conference Spring Academic Honor Roll last season.  Rock is majoring in financial economics and philosophy.

Zubia, pictured at right, leads the Greyhounds at the plate with a .385 average, 50 hits, 27 runs, 13 doubles, three triples, a team high 34 RBIs and 16 stolen bases.  Zubia, who made the Landmark Conference Spring Academic Honor Roll the last two seasons, is majoring in education.

Rock and Zubia are two of four Landmark Conference players on the Academic All-District First Team.  A total of five Landmark Conference players were honored on the two All-District squads.

Close, pictured at left, has a 9-0 record, a 0.75 ERA, four shutouts, 91 strikeouts and just five walks allowed in 71.2 innings, and Close has set the school records with 21 career wins, seven shutouts and 223 career strikeouts.  He was on the Landmark All-Conference First Team in 2009 and the Second Team as well as the Landmark Conference Spring Academic Honor Roll last year.  Close is majoring in financial economics.

Moravian has a 30-7 overall record, a school record for victories and a 17-1 mark in the Landmark Conference regular season.  The Greyhounds are the top seed and will host the 2011 Landmark Conference Championship Tournament beginning on Saturday, May 7th at 12:30 p.m. versus fourth seed Susquehanna University.