1 April 23 BEHR END 2OIO BEACON
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www.thebehrendbeacon.com
MEN'S GOLF
Team travels to Hershey to compete in Nationals
PSBLions.com
Junior Marc Neiswonger has a lot
of tournament experience.
iii ~ i ~
Josh Fyffe: Behrend's batting king
;,.
Jon Klein/The Behrend Beacon
Senior shortstop Josh Fyffe has earned numerous awards this season
as well as for past seasons. He is now the all-time hit-leader for Penn
F7'7'W.l - 1!
High scoring Lions gearing up for AMCC tournament
ALEC ITALIANO
,innts
The home stretch is coming
for the Penn State Behrend
Lions as only a total of seven
games with four teams remain
on the schedule.
The Lions started the week
off well, scoring 17 runs in a
win over Theil last Thursday at
home. It was a slugfest of a
game. The final score ended 17-
11 in favor of Behrend.
The action started in the first
inning as the Behrend Lions re
sponded to Theil's first run in
the top of the inning with four
of their own. Junior catcher
Harry Latta heightened the ac
tion with a two-run double that
capped off a four run inning for
the Lions. The majority of the
runs came in the bottom of the
third, pushing six runs across
the plate.
After loading the bases for
the inning, senior outfielder
The spring season went as
fast as it came for the Penn-
State Behrend golf team.
The team kicked off this
spring season in wet and sloppy
conditions, traveling down to
Westminster College at the
New Castle Country Club.
Sophomore Kevin Koerbel
was the low man on the team,
shooting an 82 as the team fin
ished middle-of-the-pack in a
12-team duel on New Castle
Country Club.
Windy conditions and tough
pin placements was the story of
the two day tournament hosted
by Carnegie Mellon University
on The Links at Spring Church.
The team was again led by Ko
erbel, who carded a 78-81 for a
total of 159, followed closely by
senior Pat Petraglia, who
turned in a 76 on the second
day, improving his first day
score by 10 after shooting an 86
day one. The Lions finished
eighth out of 11 teams at the
State Behrend baseball.
Jon Gray put one over the fence
for a grand slam and an eight
point lead for Behrend.
The team then traveled to Mt.
Aloysius in Creston, Pa. in a
doubleheader against the
Mounties.
The Lions dropped the first
game 14-5, but then battled
hack to split the day, as they
won the second game 8-6.
The team then went on a
slight skid, losing to Allegheny
College at home this past Tues
day 8-6 and then dropped the
first of two games Wednesday
to Medaille 8-2 in a televised
game.
However, the Behrend Lions
were able to pull out a 10-5 win
to halt the skid in the second
game of the double-header
against the Medaille Mavericks.
Senior Dustin Dubensky was
the player of the game. His shot
to right field scored two and
then scored himself to claim a
4-1 lead in the first inning.
JOE VELLA
,Litt
•
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-.... .4it
end of the day.
Arnold Palmer's Latrobe
Country Club played host to the
St. Vincent Bobcat Invitational
where the Penn State Lions fin
ished sixth out of 14 teams, and
finished with a grand total
score of 324. St. Vincent ran
away with the tournament on
their home course, turning in
an impressive 288 for the tour
nament.
The Lions were supposed to
play host to an invitational at
the Peek'n Peak lower course,
but lack of interest around the
conference forced head coach
James Bowen to cancel the in
vitational.
It did however give the team
a chance to finalize the roster
for the Division-111 National
tournament in Hershey, Pa.
May 8 and 9. The team will be
represented by senior captain
Joe Nelson, Petraglia, Koerbal,
junior Marc Neiswonger, and
freshman Zack Polanski.
"We're hoping Zack can play
a big role and that freshy Koer
bel can have a big finish to the
KAELA BISHOP
This season, during the dou
bleheader against Hilbert Col
lege, senior shortstop Josh
Fyffe went two-for-four during
the first game and three-for
four during the second. The
five hits were just enough to
put Fyffe at the top. Jake Boyle
has held the hits record for
Penn State Behrend since 2002,
which was 224.
Fyffe does not take all the
credit for his success on the
team.
"Coach Benim has been a big
. ascet..* me," FyiteVaid. "He's
co, and I
- MVe definitdy gotterc a lot bet
ter since I've been here. I give a
lot of credit to the coaching
staff that is with us now."
Each year, Fyffe has been
able to improve and increase
his numbers from the previous.
In his freshman year, his bat
ting average was .394.
He attained 56 hits and three
home runs. Fyffe was named
AMCC Newcomer of the Year,
MVP Freshman, and he made
the AMCC First Team during
2007, showing outstanding po
tential from the start.
In his sophomore year, Fyffe
accumulated 52 hits, three
triples, and 11 doubles. During
2008 he was named AMCC
Honorable Mention, Second
Team ABCA-Rawlings Mid-At
lantic Region, and the Gold
Glove Winner.
"I think maturity has really
helped out, getting more ma
ture within the last four years,
being more patient, and confi
dent," Fyffe said. "If I do have
a bad game, I just let it go, slide
it away, and start the next one."
Last season, Fyffe broke the
RBI record, completing the sea
son with 116. He had an aver-
He later tripled and scored
again, representing six of the
10 runs for Behrend.
There was also a lot of suc
cess here for the individuals on
the team as senior third base
man Dustin Dubensky was
named Athlete of the Week dur
ing the past seven days, and
senior shortstop Josh Fyffe be
came the all-time hit leader for
Behrend baseball.
The Lions are back in action
this weekend hosting Francis
can college for a double-header
on Saturday. They will finish up
the season with two more dou
ble-headers on the road against
D'Youville and Frostburg State
respectively and wrap up their
home stand with a single game
against Fredonia on Wednes
day Apr. 28.
After taking the week off for
finals, the AMCC tournament
starts May 8, and if they make
it through the AMCCs, Nation
als begin on May 19.
season coming off his runner
up AMCCs," Nelson said.
These five players will travel
to Grove City on Monday to
play in their invitational and
"The team is looking
solid this spring,
and we have
improved in every
tournament, but we
are looking to take
another step before
we go to NCAAs."
will be the final tune-up before
the big dance.
"Nationals are going to be
awesome, especially since we
are the first golf team at
age of .406, 69 hits, nine home
runs, three triples, and thirteen
doubles. He was named AMCC
Player of the Year, ECAC Player
of the Year, First Team All-Con
ference, Second Team ABCA-
Rawlings Mid-Atlantic Region
Team.
staff writer
"I practice as much as I can,"
Fyffe said. "Everyday we swing
and stay after once in a while.
It's nice with the class that I'm
with, the senior class. We're a
pretty tight net. There's always
three or four of us that stay
after to hit. I know me, Dustin
Dubensky, and Ryan Little are
really close, and we help each
other out as much as we can."
nuirib
e ave
,henior
co rise. Currently, his batting av
erage is .512, with 62 hits, six
homers, six triples, and 10 dou
bles. Fyffe has already been
named to the D3.com Presea
son All-American Team.
As far as plans for after col
lege, Fyffe would like to con
tinue his involvement with
college baseball.
"I really want to coach," he
said, "I want to start fresh with
my own program. I wouldn't
mind starting here and then
getting out of here, but I defi
nitely want to coach the college
level."
For the remainder of his sen
ior year, Fyffe will continue to
chase the all-time home runs
record, also held by Boyle.
Fyffe is well on his way with a
career total of 18.
Fyffe said, "We have two
more conference games that we
have to win, so it's going to be
exciting the rest of the season,
and we're all looking forward
to it."
Five games remain before the
AMCC Tournament on May
Bth.
Jon Klein/The Behrend Beacon
Junior pitcher Andy Kountz has provided help from the bullpen, pitching six innings in the last two weeks.
He gave up one hit, one earned run and struck one out in the effort.
Joe Nelson
Senior captain
Behrend to play in it," Koerbel
said. "We are really looking
forward to getting tuned up at
the Grove City tournament and
get some team chemistry."
The four round champi
onships will be played on both
the Hershey Links Golf Club
and Hershey Country Club.
After a practice round on both
of the two host courses, the
tournament will officially begin
with round one on Tuesday,
May 11 and finish that Friday.
Elizabethtown College will
host the national tournament in
partnership with The Hershey
Golf Collection, an organiza
tion that coordinates local golf
courses in the area.
This is the first time the golf
team will travel to Nationals in
school history and was only the
second time the team won the
AMCCs.
"The team is looking solid
this spring and we have im
proved in every tournament,
but we are looking to take an
other step before we go to
NCAAs," said Nelson.
Dubensky bats in
18 on hot streak
PSBLIons com
Senior third baseman Dustin
Dubensky batted a .684 average
this past week to help him earn
the Athlete of the Week award.
SEAN NEELY
Senior Dustin Dubensky
powered the Behrend Lions to
a 4-1 record last week.
Dubensky drove in 18 runs
and scored six on his way to be
coming Athlete of the Week.
"This spring I feel that I've
contributed experience [to the
team]," Dubensky said. "This
being my fourth year, I know
what is expected of our team.
Our group of seniors have done
well leading by example."
Leading by example is ex
actly what Dubensky has done,
as he hit for .684 in 19 at-bats.
Dubensky's top performance
came in game one of a confer
ence match-up against Hilbert.
Dubensky went 2 for 3 with six
PSBLions.com
Zack Polanski is the only fresh
man traveling to Nationals.
RBIs and three runs scored.
Then, in the second game of the
doubleheader against Hilbert,
Dubensky went on to have a
four for six game with four
RBIs.
In a non-conference match
up against Thiel, Dubensky
registered one RBI and one
run-scored.
He finished out the week
against AMCC Conference op
ponent Mount Aloysius, having
a handful of hits and seven
RBIs.
"We have been having a
pretty good season this year,
making a run for our third
straight Conference Champi
onship," Dubensky said. "Our
line-up is full with guys who
have played at this level for
quite some time."
Dubensky gives credit to the
team around him, especially
fellow senior Josh Fyffe, who
was last year's AMCC Player of
the Year.
staff writer
"I got comfortable early this
year and have been swinging it
pretty well," Dubensky said. "It
also helps when you're hitting
behind Josh Fyffe.
"I get to see some pitches to
hit, because people don't want
to test him."
Dubensky's solid play last
week solidifies him as one of
the AMCCs leading clutch-hit
ters, heading up the league
with 48 RBIs.
"We are coming up on the
stretch run, and I think we have
a lot more left in the tank,"
Dubensky said. "If we can get
timely pitching and hitting,
then we have a great chance of
winning our third-straight Con
ference Title."
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