Wednesday, May 6, 2009

FOUR SOFTBALL PLAYERS AND MORAVIAN TEAM RANKED IN NCAA DIVISION III SOFTBALL STATISTICS

INDIANAPOLIS, IN --- The Moravian College softball team and four student-athletes are ranked in the sixth NCAA Division III statistics release of the 2009 season including games through May 3rd.

Senior pitcher/designated player Maria DeBonis (Nazareth, PA/Notre Dame HS) is 39th in the nation in ERA at 1.25, 48th in strikeouts per seven innings with an average of 7.6 and 21st in hits allowed per seven innings at 4.27.  DeBonis, pictured at right, has 158 strikeouts and has allowed just 89 hits in 146 innings of action.

Freshmen outfielder Olivia Evanko (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth) is seventh in the country for sacrifice hits per game at 0.43 with 18 sacrifice hits in 42 games.  Of the 48 players ranked, Evanko, pictured at left, is third in total sacrifice hits this season.

Sophomore second basemen Stephanie Falzarano (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) is tied for 24th in the nation at toughest to strike out with an average of going 46.7 at-bats without being struck out.  Falzarano, pictured at bottom right, has struck out just three times in 140 at-bats.

Freshman pitcher/designated player Jenna Carmon (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central HS), pictured at bottom left, is tied for 34th in the country in saves with two this season.

The Greyhounds are ranked in the top 50 in the nation in four categories including being fourth in the country in ERA at 1.04.  Moravian is 44th in doubles per game with an average of 1.65, 19th in fielding percentage at .969 and tied for 31st in winning percentage at .791.

Moravian, which is 34-9 on the season, is scheduled to return to action on Thursday, May 7th when the team begins competition in the 2009 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament.  The Greyhounds are seeded fourth in an eight-team regional being hosted by Ramapo College of New Jersey.  Moravian will play fifth seeded Eastern Connecticut State University in the first round at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday.