TOWSON, Md. --- Moravian College senior first baseman Abby Jeffries and junior pitcher Josie Novak have been honored as the Landmark Conference Softball Athlete and Pitcher of the Week for their performances last week.
The duo helped the No. 7 ranked Greyhounds to a 7-1 week as the Blue and Grey improved their record to 33-3 overall and 10-0 in Landmark Conference action. With Sunday's sweep of The Catholic University of America, Moravian clinched the top spot in the 2017 Landmark Conference Tournament and will host the double-elimination tournament at Blue & Grey Field on Friday and Saturday, May 5-6.
Jeffries, who also saw time as a designated player this week, hit .480 for the week as she went 12-for-25 at the plate. Jeffries added three doubles, a triple and a pair of walks for a .536 on-base-percentage and a .680 slugging percentage, and she had six RBIs and scored a run. In the field, Jeffries made 35 putouts and two assists in 38 chances and was part of two double plays. Jeffries was 5-for-6 in a doubleheader sweep at Delaware Valley University, and she went 5-for-7 with three doubles and four RBIs in a sweep at Eastern University.
"Abby is having a very good senior season, and really helped us at the plate last week when some of our bats were struggling," commented Head Coach John Byrne. "She has been a valuable player both as a first baseman and designated player during her career and we are looking for her to keep up her intensity and consistency as we head into the last week of the regular season and then the postseason."
Novak received her fourth straight and fifth overall Landmark Conference Pitcher of the Week honor for the season after posting a 0.00 ERA last week as she posted a 4-0 record with just eight hits and five walks allowed to go with 26 strikeouts in 27 innings of work. She posted three shutouts to raise her season total to 12 and career mark to 25, which both rank third in school history. Novak began the week with nine strikeouts, two walks and two hits in a 4-0, eight inning win at Delaware Valley. She then tossed five innings with three hits and five strikeouts in a 6-1 victory at Eastern as freshman Paige Lesher finished the game in the circle. Novak then allowed two hits and two walks to go with five strikeouts in a 5-0 win over The College of Staten Island, and she finished the week with her seventh one-hit shutout of the season, adding a walk and seven strikeouts in a 1-0 victory over The Catholic University of America in Landmark Conference action.
"Josie is part of a pitching staff that is having one of the best seasons in program history this spring," noted Byrne. "She has done a tremendous job of keeping the opposing batters off balance and has been able to work out of the jams that she has gotten into. You can't compete for championships without pitching and Josie is one third of a very good group we have this spring."
Moravian is scheduled to return to action on Saturday, April 29 in a Landmark Conference doubleheader at The University of Scranton beginning at 1:00 p.m.
