Six Hounds Named to Landmark All-Conference Baseball Teams
TOWSON, Md. --- Moravian College has had six baseball players named to the 2015 Landmark All-Conference Baseball Teams including three repeat performers – senior right fielder Matt Hanson, senior third baseman/designated hitter Ryan Luke and junior catcher Mike Roethke – on the First Team.
TOWSON, Md. --- Moravian College has had six baseball players named to the 2015 Landmark All-Conference Baseball Teams including three repeat performers – senior right fielder Matt Hanson, senior third baseman/designated hitter Ryan Luke and junior catcher Mike Roethke – on the First Team.
The Hounds also had three players on the All-Conference Second Team including junior first baseman Charles Savite, senior shortstop Colin Case and freshman pitcher Dan Morrin. Savite was on the All-Conference First Team a year ago while Case and Morrin are earning All-Conference honors for the first time in their careers.
"It's exciting for the players to be voted All-Conference," commented ninth-year Head Coach Paul Engelhardt, who picked up his 200th career victory on March 27. "All six of our Hounds were very deserving. This was a very talented and competitive year in the Landmark, so these awards will be respected by our team.
"Hanson, Roethke and Luke represent this school in the best way," continued Engelhardt. They play hard and play the game of baseball the right way. Hanson and Luke played the whole season with significant injuries. Both played through considerable pain and helped their team reach another championship tournament. It's that kind of commitment and strength that make All-Conference players.
"Savite, Case and Morrin making the Second Team is an honor as well. Each of them are deserving of First Team honors, but with this year's talent in Landmark...it's still rewarding. Each players is among the leaders in many categories in the conference statistics. Each one of them would also credit the team as a whole and are happy to represent our program with these honors," finished Englehardt.
Moravian, which is 20-18 on the season, earned the second seed in the Landmark Conference Tournament and defeated third seed Elizabethtown College in a semifinal series last weekend. The Greyhounds will host fourth seed The Catholic University of America in a best-of-three championship series at Gillespie Field this week starting on Friday, May 8 at 3:30 p.m. The winner of the series will receive the conference's automatic berth to the 2015 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament.
Hanson, a three-time member of the All-Conference First Team, became just the second player in school history to reach 200 career hits earlier this season. Hanson is hitting .343 this spring with 49 hits, 24 runs, seven doubles, two triples, 28 RBIs, 13 walks and 21 stolen bases. Hanson, who was the 2014 Landmark Conference, ECAC Division III South and D3baseball.com Mid-Atlantic Region Player of the Year while earning D3baseball.com Second Team and American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings Third Team All-America honors, has set school records in games played with 157 and stolen bases with 61, and he is ranked in the top 10 all-time in at-bats with 550 (second), hits with 204 (second), runs with 137 (second and one shy of tying the school record), RBIs with 112 (fourth), doubles with 38 (fourth), triples with 11 (third), total bases wit 273 (second) and walks with 62 (seventh).
Luke, who was on the All-Conference First Team last season and the Second Team in 2013, has split time between third base and as a designated hitter this season, and he leads the squad with a .376 average to go along with 44 hits, 32 runs, eight doubles, one triple, two home runs, 17 RBIs and six stolen bases. Luke, who was also an ABCA/Rawlings Second Team All-Mid-Atlantic Region selection a year ago, is tied for fourth in games played at 145, and he is seventh in at-bats with 493, seventh in hits with 164, ninth in runs at 103, fifth in RBIs with 106, third in doubles with 40, tied for seventh in triples with eight, fifth in total bases with 232 and seventh in assists with 236.
Roethke, who is on the All-Conference First Team for a second straight spring, has a .328 batting average in 2015 with 38 hit, 15 runs, six doubles, a triple, a homer, 21 RBIs and 12 walks. Behind the plate, Roethke has 177 putouts and 34 assists this season including throwing out 12 of 55 stolen base attempts. He is sixth in school history with 488 putouts, and Roethke needs just four hits to join Moravian's 100-hit club.
Savite, who was an All-Conference First Team honoree in 2014 and also made the ABCA All-Mid-Atlantic Region Second Team, is hitting .302 this season with 42 hits, 20 runs, a team-high 12 doubles, two homers and a team-leading 41 RBIs. Savite, who was the 2013 Landmark Conference Rookie of the Year, also leads the team with 285 putouts to give him 1,007 in his career, which is second in school history. He is also third in RBIs with 116, tenth in hits with 150 and tied for eighth in doubles with 29.
Case, who was on the ABCA/Rawlings All-Mid-Atlantic Region Third Team last season, has a .331 batting average this spring with 44 hits, a team-high 33 runs, five doubles, five triples, which is tied for 23rd in the nation, a homer, 28 RBIs, a team-leading 17 walks and eight stolen bases. In the field, Case has 45 putouts and 99 assists to give him a school record 368 assists in his career. Case is also eighth in at-bats with 474, ninth in hits with 151, sixth in runs at 115 and sixth in triples with nine.
Morrin has posted a 5-1 record on the mound in his debut season. He is currently 31st in the nation with a 1.43 ERA, and Morrin has tossed four complete games with one shutout to go with just 12 walks and a total of 37 strikeouts in a team-high 56.2 innings over ten appearances including nine starts.
