INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.. --- The Moravian College baseball team has been seeded eighth in an eight-team regional being hosted by Ithaca College at Falcon Park in Auburn, New York, and the Greyhounds will play top seed Ithaca in the opening round of the 2013 NCAA Division III Tournament on Wednesday, May 15th.
Ithaca is hosting the regional in Auburn, N.Y. at the home of the Auburn Doubledays, a New York-Penn League, short season Class A franchise of the Washington Nationals. The tournament begins on Wednesday with fourth seed Farmingdale State College taking on fifth seed Neumann University at 10:00 a.m. and followed by the Moravian vs. Ithaca game at 1:15 p.m. Action will continue with third seed Rowan University and sixth seed Amherst College playing at 4:30 p.m. and second seed SUNY Cortland and seventh seed Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute finishing the day at 7:45 p.m. Tickets are $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and children. For more information on the tournament, visit http://bombers.ithaca.edu/sports/2013/5/12/BB_0512130927.aspx?id=2696.
The Greyhounds, under the direction of seventh-year head coach Paul Engelhardt, who as a career mark of 163-118, have posted a 24-17 overall record this spring, becoming just the fifth team in the 74-year history of Moravian's baseball program to win 20 games in a season, and all five seasons have been under coach Engelhardt coming in each of the last five years that have seen the program in the postseason. Engelhardt has led Moravian to a pair of Landmark Conference titles in 2010 and 2013 in his tenure.
Moravian had a 10-8 mark in Landmark Conference action during the 2013 regular season, which was tied for third with the University of Scranton but the Greyhounds won the regular season series over the Royals to earn the higher seed. The Greyhounds then defeated Scranton twice as well as second seed the United States Merchant Marine Academy to win their second Landmark Conference title in four seasons last Monday and earn the Landmark Conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament.
This is technically the third time Moravian has had a baseball team qualify for the NCAA Tournament. The Greyhounds' 1960 squad earned a berth after defeating the University of Delaware in the Middle Atlantic Conference Championship game; however, the NCAA did not allow freshmen to compete in the tournament at that time and Moravian was unable to field a squad without its freshmen so the team did not play in the tournament.
Moravian, which is making its five straight postseason appearance with five consecutive trips to the Landmark Conference Tournament and second NCAA tournament appearance in the last four years, is hitting .298 with 75 doubles, 17 triples and seven home runs, and the team also has 73 stolen bases and a .950 fielding percentage this season.
Sophomore outfielder Matt Hanson, who was named to the Landmark All-Conference First Team has a team high .364 average with 48 hits, 12 doubles, five triples, 33 runs, 15 stolen bases, 14 walks and 19 RBI this season while junior outfielder Joseph Connell has a team high 54 hits to go with 28 runs, ten doubles, four triples, two homers, nine stolen bases, eight walks and 39 RBI. Connell became the 23rd player in school history to reach the 100-career hit milestone earlier this season. Freshman first baseman Charles Savite, the 2013 Landmark Conference Rookie of the Year, has 46 hits to go with a .315 average, 30 runs, eight doubles, two triples, a team high 17 walks and 27 RBI, and Savite has a team high 320 putouts this season, just two shy of breaking Moravian's single season record.
Sophomore third baseman Ryan Luke, who was named to the Landmark All-Conference Second Team, has a .331 average, 48 hits, 27 runs, 12 doubles, three triples, two home runs, nine walks, 11 sacrifice hits including five sacrifice flies and a team high 42 RBI, and Luke has added 69 assists in the field. Sophomore shortstop Colin Case is hitting .293 with 43 hits, 31 runs, 5 doubles, a triple, a homer, 14 walks, seven stolen bases and 16 RBI to go with a team high 106 assists in the field.
Freshman catcher Mike Roethke has a .3232 average, 31 hits, 11 runs, four doubles, a home run and nine RBI in his debut season, and Roethke has thrown out 28 percent of stolen base attempts while behind the plate, catching ten of 36 runners. Freshman outfielder Jimmy McCarthy has 30 hits, 25 runs, nine doubles, a triple, 12 stolen bases and 17 RBI while freshman infielder Alex Bull has added 20 hits, 18 runs, a double, a home run, nine walks and 14 RBI.
Junior second baseman Daniel Seitzinger has added 20 hits, 16 runs, a double and seven RBI this season but he has missed the last 23 games with an injury. Freshman outfielder Cameron Leon has 16 hits, seven runs, two doubles, a triple and four RBI while sophomore outfielder/designated hitter Justin Pilchman has added 16 hits, ten runs, three doubles, eight walks and nine RBI.
Sophomore second baseman Alex Longernecker has nine hits, nine runs, two doubles and six RBI while sophomore outfielder/pitcher Chris Lansberry has eight hits, seven runs, two doubles and two RBI at the plate. Junior catcher Matthew Gutkes has seven hits, four runs, two doubles, eight walks and nine RBI while also seeing time as a designated hitter. Sophomore first baseman Joey DiSarno has contributed nine hits, two runs, a double and four RBI while junior outfielder Harrison Fonteix has six hits, two runs and a double this season.
Moravian's pitching staff has posted a 4.18 ERA this season with 207 strikeouts and just 108 walks in 342 innings. The staff has limited its opponents to a .280 batting average with seven different pitchers making at least ten appearances on the mound this spring.
Freshman Anthony Zaloga has a 4-4 record, 14 walks, 40 strikeouts and a 3.28 ERA in 60.1 innings while junior Robert Solano, who was named to the Landmark All-Conference Second Team, is 5-2 with a 3.72 ERA, 18 walks and 38 strikeouts in 65.1 innings.Junior Thomas Mariano has tossed 46 innings with a 3.72 ERA, a 4-3 record, 29 strikeouts and nine walks while junior Chris Soltys is 4-1 with 4 saves, a 1.36 ERA, nine walks and 27 strikeouts in 33 innings of action.
Junior Ben Hammel has tossed 30.2 innings with five walks, 16 strikeouts, a 1.76 ERA and a 1-2 mark while Lansberry is 3-3 with 24 strikeouts, 16 walks and a 5.00 ERA in 45 innings of action.
Freshman Brett Wagner is 2-1 with 11 walks and11 strikeouts in 24.2 innings while Savite has 1 save and two strikeouts in 4.1 innings. Freshman J.J. Jordan has a 3.86 ERA and two strikeouts in 4.2 innings while senior Matthew Cordes is 1-0 with nine strikeout and five walks in 10.2 innings of action. McCarthy has also tossed 7.2 innings with four walks and five strikeouts this season.
Ithaca enters the NCAA Tournament ranked tenth in the nation in last week's D3baseball.com Top 25 poll. The Bombers are 34-6 on the season, and the squad was 10-1 in Empire 8 Conference action, earning one of the four Pool B berths to the NCAA Tournament for conferences without an automatic qualifier. Ithaca has participated in all but three of the NCAA Division III Tournaments, and the Bombers have won two national championships in 1980 and 1988. Ithaca is coached by George Valesente, who took over the program in 1979.
