Monday, April 8, 2002

FIVE NAMED MORAVIAN STUDENT-ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

BETHLEHEM, PA --- Senior Kim Jaick (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh HS) from the women's outdoor track & field team, sophomore Donna Weiner (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park HS) of the softball squad, senior Michael Abbate (South Plainfield, NJ/Bishop Ahr HS) and sophomore Greg Peters (Hellertown, PA/Saucon Valley HS) from the baseball team and David Kurvink (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS) of the men's tennis squad have been named the Moravian College Student-Athletes of the Week for their performances last week.

Jaick captured first place in the 10,000 meters with an NCAA Division III automatic and Eastern College Athletic Conference qualifying time of 36:32.0 on the first day of the Sam Howell Memorial Invitational hosted by Princeton University. Jaick's time is the fastest in the nation this season.  Moravian will host the Greyhound Invitational this weekend.

Weiner, a pitcher, won both games she pitched last week, leading 21st ranked Moravian to a 3-1 record.  Weiner earned a 3-1 decision over 14th ranked Rowan University as the Greyhounds split a doubleheader with the Profs and she earned a 6-1 victory over Widener University to improve her record to 8-2 on the season.  Weiner allowed just two runs during the week, one of them earned, with just eight hits and two walks allowed in 14 innings of work.  She also had two strikeouts.  Moravian is 20-4 on the season and 5-1 in the Commonwealth Conference heading into a Commonwealth Conference twinbill at Elizabethtown College on Tuesday, April 9th beginning at 3:00 p.m.

Abbate, an outfielder, led the Greyhounds to a 4-2 record last week including a 3-2 Commonwealth Conference mark and surpasses two milestone at Moravian, one of which no other Moravian player has reached.  Abbate hit .524 last week with 11 hits in 21 at-bats from the leadoff position.  He also walked four times for an on-base percentage of .615.  Abbate added three steals, two sacrifice bunts and he scored nine runs.  When Abbate crossed the plate in the fifth inning of Moravian's 13-9 victory at Lebanon Valley, he became the first Moravian player to score 100 runs in a career.  In the Greyhounds, 7-6, nine-inning loss to the Flying Dutchmen, Abbate became the seventh player in Moravian history to reach 100 career hits with a single in the sixth inning.  He currently has 102 hits and 105 runs.  Moravian is 11-13 overall this season and will return to action on Tuesday, April 9th in a non-conference game at Delaware Valley College beginning at 3:30 p.m.

Peters, an outfielder and pitcher, earned a victory and a save in two relief appearances in Commonwealth Conference action last week and he was also hot at the plate in both games and for the entire week.  Peters worked two scoreless innings to earn a save in Moravian's 6-3 victory at Susquehanna University and he also drove in the final run of the game.  In Moravian's victory at Lebanon Valley College, Peters tossed six innings in relief to earn the victory.  He allowed three-run (two earned) on seven hits and four walks.  At the plate, Peters gave Moravian its first lead of the game with a three runs homerun in the second inning.  For the week, Peters hit .368 with seven hits in 19 at-bats, including a double, two triples and a homerun and he added 11 RBIs.

Kurvink won all four of his singles matches in his third singles spot and he combined with sophomore Mike Helmuth (Bethlehem, PA/Harrisonburg {VA} HS) to win three doubles matches at second doubles and one at first doubles.  The Greyhounds are 8-5 overall and 3-0 in the MAC Commonwealth heading into a crucial MAC Commonwealth showdown at Lebanon Valley College on Wednesday, April 10th beginning at 3:30 p.m.