MORAVIAN SOFTBALL SQUAD FALLS TO 12TH IN LATEST NFCA DIVISION III POLL

STARKVILLE, MS --- The Moravian College softball team has fell seven spots to 12th in the nation in the eighth regular season National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division III Top 25 Poll of the 2007 season released Wednesday.

The University of St. Thomas (MN) holds down the top spot, receiving all eight first-place votes and 200 points. Linfield College is second with 186 points while Ithaca College is third at 182 points. Moravian received 101 points.

Moravian, under the direction of 14th-year head coach John Byrne (434-139), has already posted a 27-5 record this season after competing at the Atlantic versus East Challenge and the 2007 NFCA Leadoff Classic, which was won by St. Thomas. The Greyhounds have also clinched the top spot in the 2007 Commonwealth Conference Tournament.

The Greyhounds were 15th in the preseason poll, 11th in the first regular season poll on March 7th, ninth in the second poll after posting a 3-3 record at the NFCA Leadoff Classic before dropping to 12th three weeks ago. Moravian was up three spots to ninth on March 28th before moving into the eighth spot three weeks ago. The Greyhounds were seventh on April 11th before moving up to fifth last week. The highest Moravian has ever been in the poll was the top spot back in 2004.

The Greyhounds are one of just three teams from the East Region ranked with the Greyhounds being joined by sixth-ranked Montclair State University and 18th-ranked Ramapo College of New Jersey.

Moravian is currently 1-3 this season against the top 25 with a win over #3 Ithaca, 1-0, and losses to #7 Louisiana, 5-0; #9 Muskingum (OH) College, 2-1 in eight innings, and #22 Central (IA) College, 4-1. All of those games were played at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Panama City Beach, Florida.

The complete poll can be found at http://nfca.org/top25/index.php?cat_id=3.