Baseball Opens Up Landmark Conference Play Versus Catholic
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Moravian College baseball team (7-6) welcomes Landmark Conference rival The Catholic University of America (10-3) to Gillispie Field to open the Landmark Conference schedule. The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. on Saturday, March 17th and a single game on Sunday, March 18th that starts at 11 a.m.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Moravian College baseball team (7-6) welcomes Landmark Conference rival The Catholic University of America (10-3) to Gillispie Field to open the Landmark Conference schedule. The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. on Saturday, March 17th and a single game on Sunday, March 18th that starts at 11 a.m.
Battle of the Titans: The Greyhounds and Cardinals were picked in a tie to finish first in the Landmark Conference preseason poll. Since the inaugural spring season in 2007, Catholic has won three conference titles while Moravian won one back in 2010.
Home Field Advantage: Since 2010 the Greyhounds are 30-8 at Gillispie Field. During that stretch, Moravian has outscored its opponents by 99 runs.
Breaking Records: Senior Kevin O'Keefe recently broke the school's all-time RBI record set at 131. He currently has 133. O'Keefe is also just three hits away from breaking the career-hits record set a 175 by Joseph Durso (2006-09).
Greyhound Seniors: The senior class of O'Keefe, Austin Rock, Gregg Steinman, Dave Zubia and Blake Shortall has a combined .315 batting average this spring. They have also combined for 60 percent of the teams' runs scored and 59 percent of the teams' RBIs. The senior pitchers of Brendan Close and Kyle Longernecker have a combined 4-1 record with a 0.93 ERA. In 29 innings pitched, the two have struck out 24 while walking two, and opponents are only hitting .196 off of them.
Scouting Catholic: Senior Mark Kalokitis leads the Cardinals with a .381 batting average and 13 RBIs. Classmate Tim Mierzwa leads the team with 13 runs scored and six stolen bases. Senior Matt Grieb has a team-best two home runs to go with his .300 batting average, eight RBIs and eight runs scored. Sophomore pitcher Thomas Travaglia has 0.84 ERA in 10.2 innings pitched while classmate Robin Mowatt is 1-0 with one save and a 3.48 ERA in 20.2 innings.
Landmark Conference: Without a Landmark Conference game being played yet, Catholic sits in first place with a 10-3 record. Drew (5-2) is second, followed by Scranton (7-4). Moravian sits in fourth at 7-6. Susquehanna (6-6) and Juniata (5-5) are tied for fifth while USMMA (2-5) is in last place.
Next on the Schedule: The Greyhounds travel to The College of New Jersey on Tuesday, March 20th for a non-conference matchup. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
