Monday, May 5, 2003

BORTZ & HENNESSY NAMED COMMONWEALTH CONFERENCE PLAYER & PITCHER OF THE WEEK

ANNVILLE, PA --- Sophomore shortstop Heather Bortz (Allentown, PA/Parkland HS) and freshman pitcher Meagan Hennessy (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Township HS) of the Moravian College softball team have been named the Commonwealth Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week for their performances last week.

The duo helped the Greyhounds to a 5-0 record last week, the team’s third straight Commonwealth Conference Tournament title, the squad’s fourth straight Commonwealth Conference Championship and the program’s sixth consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament appearance.

Bortz, who was named the Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season, hit .667 last week with 12 hits in 18 at-bats, and she was 7-10 at the Commonwealth Conference Tournament. Bortz added three runs scored, three RBIs, a triple, a walk, a sacrifice and a stolen base in 20 plate appearances. She was five-for-eight in Moravian’s regular season finale sweep of Albright College, and Bortz added a five-for-six performance in the Greyhounds’ 4-3, 11-inning victory over Juniata College to open the Commonwealth Tournament. Bortz had 15 chances in the field last week and committed just one error with seven putouts and seven assists. Bortz is hitting .492 (58 of 118) for the season.

Hennessy, who was named the Commonwealth’s Pitcher of the Week for the fifth time this year, tossed a trio of victories and posted a 0.84 ERA last week while allowing 15 hits and five walks in 25 innings. Hennessy also had 31 strikeouts to raise her single season school record total to 148, and she tied the school mark two more times with 11 strikeouts in two separate games last week. Hennessy tossed a two-hit shutout of Elizabethtown College in the Commonwealth Conference Championship game, her eighth shutout of the year, which ties the Moravian single season record. Hennessy is 15-4 in her debut season with a 0.95 ERA.

Moravian, which is 29-8 overall, has been seeded third in the NCAA Division III Regional at Ramapo College. The Greyhounds will play sixth seeded the United States Merchant Marine Academy at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, May 9th in the second game of the tournament.