TOWSON, Md. – Junior outfielder Matt Hanson has been named the Landmark Conference Player of the Week and senior closer Chris Soltys earned Pitcher of the Week honors as the Moravian College baseball team went 2-0 during the period ending March 30.
Soltys has not been the typical closer to begin the 2014 season. The senior co-captain picked up both wins on the mound last week after tossing his fourth and fifth relief appearances of two or more innings. He improved to 4-0, with his four wins ranking second in the conference, after recording his first two wins in appearances of over five innings apiece.
Soltys pitched the final 2.2 innings of Moravian's 7-5 win at Montclair State University on Thursday, allowing just one hit while striking out five. Soltys then earned his ninth career win by throwing the final 3.2 innings of the Greyhounds' 5-2 win at Juniata College to extend the team's winning streak to six games. Soltys gave up two hits and struck out another three batters to raise his career total to 96. Soltys also had an assist in the field and the only runner attempting to steal during his 6.1 innings was thrown out.
"There's not enough you can say about a guy who comes out of the bullpen twice and not give up any runs," head coach Paul Engelhardt said. "He's been doing that all year. He deserves this honor this week. He's been our best pitcher all year, and he's not your classic closer. He's whatever we need and he's been up for that responsibility all season."
Soltys has two saves on the season and improved his K/BB ratio to 27/3 in 2014. His 0.42 earned run average currently ranks first by a wide margin in the Landmark Conference.
Hanson's bat and glove came into play during the 2-0 week for the Greyhounds. The junior outfielder, also a co-captain, was 4-for-8 at the plate with a double and a triple to go with three runs and three RBIs. Hanson recorded four putouts from his right field position without an error.
Engelhardt believes this well-deserved honor could be a forecast of a bright immediate future for Hanson.
"He's just starting to heat up," the eighth-year headman said. "He's been having a good year, but we can tell as coaches that his swing is starting to come around. We saw that this week with a great batting average and timely RBIs, and we're looking forward to seeing even more from him as the season progresses."
Hanson was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs, a double and an RBI in Moravian's 7-5 come-from-behind win at Montclair State. In the Greyhounds' 5-2 win at Juniata, Hanson was also 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs, including the game-winning RBI in the top of the seventh inning.
The junior ranks third in the Landmark Conference with 18 RBIs and owns a .383 batting average (23-for-60) through Moravian's first 16 games. He is also a perfect 5-for-5 on stolen base attempts this season.
