Friday, April 27, 2007
Baseball team is on a roll
By Matt Waronker
assistant sports editor
The Penn State Behrend baseball team tallied
five victories in their six match-ups in the past
week. More impressively, however, was the team's
undefeated record this past week against Mother
Nature. For the first time in what seems to have
been weeks, the Lions were able to play a stretch of
games with no unfavorable interferences from the
weather. The stretch, which included a pair of wins
against both Fredonia and Allegheny, as well as a
split doubleheader with conference leaders La
Roche, brought the Lions overall record to 20-9.
Behrend is currently 8-6 in conference play.
After kicking off the week with a pair of wins
over Fredonia, the Lions traveled to Pittsburgh to
face conference-leading La
Roche. Both match-ups in the
doubleheader saw slow starts by
each lineup. In game one, Behrend
found themselves down a run after
the first inning; however, the
Lions raced back into the contest
scoring three runs in the third
inning. While the Redhawks came
close to catching Behrend late in
the sixth inning, sophomore pitch
er David Koerbel was able to hold
off La Roche, capping off a 3-2
victory,
"They had a pretty strong pitch
er who did a good job, but fortu
nately for us David [Koerbel] did
a better job and held onto the
game for us," said head coach Paul
Benim. "It was a good conference nificantly in the standings.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
game and it proved we can beat Gabe Stephenson up to bat.
"We're in great shape to climb
them. Really it showed that we'll
feel comfortable against them if we
meet them in the post-season."
The back end of the doubleheader was another time to start playing hot is post-season time. We
low scoring match-up. After seven scoreless need to play best when it really counts and if we can
innings La Roche was finally able to put a single then we have guys that can really do some dam
run on the scoreboard, shutting out Behrend and age."
stealing the victory. The Lions were unable to carry
Who's hot and who's not
By Andy McLachlan
contributing writer
It is the end of A j pArand that means it is time for
the marathon that is known as the NFL Draft. Fans
from all over the U.S. will travel to Radio City
Music Hall in New York City to see who their
favorite team will take in the seven round draft that
starts Saturday, April 28 and end on Sunday, April
29. The Oakland Raiders hold the first pick in the
draft this year and are projected to take either LSU
quarterback JaMarcus Russell, Notre Dame quar
terback Brady Quinn, or Georgia Tech wide receiv
er Calvin Johnson.
The favorite to go first is Russell, due to his ath
letic ability and his strong arm. However, even
1.) Oakland
2.) Detroit
3.) Cleveland
4.) Tampa Bay
5.) Arizona
6.) Washington
7.) Minnesota
8.) Atlanta
9.) Miami
10.) Houston
11.) San Francisco
12.) Buffalo
13.) St. Louis
14.) Carolina
15.) Pittsburgh
16.) Green Bay
17.) Jacksonville
18.) Cincinnati
19.) Tennessee
20.) NY Giants
21.) Denver
22.) Dallas
23.) Kansas City
24.) New England
25.) NY Jets
.26.) Philadelphia
27.) New Orleans
28.) New England
29.) Baltimore
30.) San Diego
31.) Chicago
32.) Indianapolis
over their offensive intensity from their previous
game, only connecting with four pitches, seven
less than their 11 in game one.
In their following doubleheader, Behrend faced
Allegheny College, sweeping the Gators by
scores of 10-2 and 11-8. Offensively, the Lions
had little trouble finding rhythm at the plate. As
a team, Behrend produced 28 hits over the course
of both games.
"We had a different approach at the plate
against Allegheny," said senior outfielder Brian
Hart. "We were loose and knew we needed to get
back on track and build back our confidence. -
On the mound, Behrend displayed much of the
same confidence. Freshman pitcher Fran Haus
made his collegiate debut, pitching an impressive
six scoreless innings. Haus only allowed five hits.
With only three twin bills remain
ing in their regular season, the
Lions are hoping their strides of
offensive improvement continue
to grow. Junior catcher Paul
Henry is optimistic about the
team's timing in regards to their
improvement. "I just hope we're
getting hot at the right time of the
year," said Henry.
As far as Behrend's conference
stance is concerned, the team is
focused on the importance of their
last stretch of regular season
-have to take care of this weekend's
games but right now we're in good shape. The best
though Quinn lost to Russell in the Sugar Bowl,
some scouts believe that he should go first, due to
his experience in college and the. fact that he
played a pro-style, west-cost offense at Notre
Dame under coach Charlie Weis. Johnson, who is
ranked as the top prospect overall in this draft, will
be tempting to take for the first pick, but Oakland's
dire need for a new, young quarterback will keep
Johnson on the board after the top pick.
Some experts say to watch the trade rumors that
are swirling around about Kansas City quarterback
Trent Green. They say that if Green is dealt to the
Miami Dolphins, it could turn into a ripple effect,
which would eventually shake the draft. Ignoring
all trades, here is my mock draft for the 2007 NFL
Draft:
JaMarcus Russell
Gaines Adams
Brady Quinn
Calvin Johnson
Joe Thomas
Laßon Landry
Amobi Okoye
Jamaal Anderson
Levi Brown
Adrian Peterson
Dwayne Bowe
Patrick Willis
Alan Branch
Jon Beason
Darrelle Bevis
Marshawn Lynch
Adam Carriker
Leon Hall
Ted Ginn Jr.
Reggie Nelson
Joe Staley
Robert Meachem
Aaron Ross
Paul Posluszny
Greg Olsen
Brian Leonard
Chris Houston
Michael Griffin
Aaron Sears
Dwayne Jarrett
Ben Grubbs
Justin Harrell
( TORTS
match-ups. Currently the Lions
are sixth in AMCC play. However,
with a successful weekend against
conference foes Penn State
Altoona, Behrend could climb sig-
LSU
Clemson
Notre Dame
Georgia Tech
Wisconsin
LSU
Louisville
Arkansas
Penn State
Oklahoma
QB
DE
QB
WR
OT
DT
DE
OT
RB
LSU
Ole Miss
Michigan
Miami (FL)
Pittsburgh
California
Jacksonville
Michigan
Ohio State
Florida
C Michigan
Tennessee
Texas
Fenn State
Miami (FL)
Rutgers
Arkansas
Texas
OT
WR
OG
DT
Tennessee
USC
Auburn
Tennessee
INTRAMURAL UPDATE
HAPPENINGS:
Outdoor Soccer, Tennis and Kickball are in the
middle of their seasons
Badminton begins Monday, April 30
The kickball team"Squattin Dawgz" taking the court in the Junker.
April's ups and downs in MLB
By Danielle Brown
sports editor
April turned out to be an exciting month for
Major League Baseball. First of all, the Boston
Red Sox came from behind in their series with
the New York Yankees and ended up winning
every game. In the third game of the series, the
Yankees gave up four straight home runs to lose
the game 7-6. With these four home runs, the
Red Sox tied the major league home run streak
record.
Despite the Yankees' poor performance
against the Red Sox, third baseman Alex
Rodriguez (A-Rod) is having what many might
call the best month of his career. A-Rod has hit
14 home runs so far this month to tie the record
for most home runs in April. He is currently
ranked third in the MLB for his batting average
at .385. A-Rod was also on an impressive 23-
game hitting streak until he went 0-for-3 against
the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Tuesday, April
24. This game also extended the Yankees' los
ing streak to five games.
During the middle of the month, the Yankees
swept the Cleveland Indians; however, the
Indians have turned their April around by win
ning their last four of five games. Cleveland's
turnaround has a lot to do with the their desig-
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The Behrend Beacon I 9
nated hitter Travis Hafner, who has impressed
many with his hitting this season. In the past
five games, Hafner has driven in eight of the
team's 21 runs. He also is currently ranked
fourth in the league in batting average at .381
and has five home runs on the season.
April has also brought bad news to teams in
the MLB. The Chicago Cubs' pitcher Mark
Prior will be out for the rest of the 2007 season
due to a shoulder injury. Prior had surgery on
his right shoulder on Tuesday, April 24. He
started his rehabilitation program on Wednesday
and hopes to be back next season.
Toronto Blue Jay catcher Gregg Zaun has
been placed on the disabled list for 15-days after
injuring his hand on Tuesday against the Red
Sox. He injured the base of his thumb in the
first inning after being hit by a foul ball.
Seattle Mariners' pitcher Felix Hernandez
was also put on the 15-day disabled list after
being diagnosed with a muscle strain inside his
right elbow and forearm. Hernandez is sched
uled to start on May 4 against the New York
Yankees.
The ups and downs for baseball in April
brought a lot of excitement to fans of Major
League Baseball. The question is: what side of
things will your team be on in the month of
May?
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CONTRIBUTED PHOTO