Wednesday, February 23, 2011

MORAVIAN SOFTBALL SQUAD TIED FOR 9TH IN FIRST REGULAR SEASON 2011 NFCA DIVISION III TOP 25 POLL

STARKVILLE, MS --- The Moravian College softball team is tied for 9th in the first regular season 2011 National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division III Top 25 Poll released Wednesday. 

Linfield (OR) College received eight first-place votes and holds down the top spot with 200 points while Eastern Connecticut State University is second with 181 points.  Louisiana College is third with 174 points while Messiah College is ranked fourth with 167 points followed by DePauw (IN) University with 160 points. 

The Greyhounds, who were seventh in the preseason poll released on February 2nd, are tied with Central (IA) College at 121 points.

Moravian, under the direction of 18th-year head coach John Byrne (544-173), returns 13 players and ten starters from last year’s 34-15 squad that won its third straight Landmark Conference Championship.  The program also made the NCAA Division III Tournament for the 12th time in 13 seasons last year, winning its third NCAA Regional Championship and making its third trip to the NCAA Division III World Series.  Coach Byrne has added another nine players to the roster this year.

The Greyhounds begin their 2011 season with a trip to the National Training Center in Clermont, Florida with ten total games between March 7th through 12th.  Moravian has one teams on its schedule that received votes in the Top 25 Poll, Lebanon Valley College, which is one vote outside of the top 25.

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