Thursday, March 14, 1996
Men u s e torrid hitting to go 6-1
by Nick Zulovicb
Sports alSks,
A trip to Florida for spring
break means vacation for most
college students, but not to the
Penn State Behnand baseball
team. Head Coach Paul Benim
and his club did not have time for
fun in the sun as the Lions
played seven games in a four thy
period.
Before leaving for Florida,
Benim was concerned how his
club would gel together with so
many new players. Benim aid
his coaching staff did an excellent
job of bringing the club together
as the Lions went 6-1 on their
Florida jaunt.
The scores of the seven games
were as follows:
Behrend 13, Neuman 6
Behrend 13, Avila 6
Avila 12, Behrend 11
Behrend 3, Lebanon Valley 1
Behrend 12, Eastern 7
Behrend 6, Eastern 5
Behrend 11, Neuman 10
So far, offense is the strong
point of the Lions game.
Behrend scored 69 runs in its
seven games in Florida. Betrend
also had the running game in
high gear, as the Lioins had 46
stolen bases on 54 attempts.
lo
a
4111
Benim was happy to see that
great combination of both clutch
hitting and great speed come
together in the first seven games.
"Offensively, we really put
pressure on the opposition,"
Benim said. "I can give you a
litany of names, we just hit the
heck out of the baseball. The
bottom line is our players are
doing a good job at the plate."
The Lions came up with many
timely hits to surge them to their
6-1 record. Benim commented
most about Quinn McGuire's
game-winning slash in their
I can give you a litany of names, we just hit the heck
out of the baseball. The bottom line is our players
are doing a good job at the plate.
fourth game against Lebanon
Valley.
"Quinn McGuire probably got
the biggest hit of his college
career. We are tied one-one in the
seventh inning, two out, two
runners on second and third. He
hit a two-two curve ball to left
field and saved two runners
which proved to be the game
winning runs."
But the hitting was not the
only thing going well for the
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Lions. The pitching staff also
pitched very well in the first
seven games.
Senior Bob Vadala pitched his
way to a 2-0 record in two starts.
Freshman Darryl Schmidt is also
2-0, one victory coming as a
starter, the other in relief. John
Ronan also earned his first
college save in the Lions first
victory. Ronan leads the Lions
in strikeouts with 14.
One concern of Benim's about
the pitching staff is the number
of walks. The staff walked 45
batters in 53 1/3 innings.
-Head Coach Paul Benim
"You put a lot of pressure on
your team to make defensive
plays [when you walk so many],"
Benim said.
. One of the other higher points
for the Beluend Lions did not
happen when the team was in
competition.
Vero Beach, FL, the spring
training home of the Los Angeles
Dodgers was not far from where
the Be-hrend Lions were
conducting spring training.
1%/ 111,
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_
Dodger Manager Tommy "Coach I a sorda is a wonderful
Lasorda gave Benim and the ambassador for this great game of
Lions the royal treatment as baseball," said Benim. "1
-le
Behiend got to meet not only created a tremendous amount of
Lasorda but a couple of the memories for these players and
Dodgers stars like Mike Piazza our baseball program. Coach
and Raul Mondesi. Lasorda is a class act."
Collegian Pie Photo
Swing for the fences: The Lions hope the weather gets
better here in the north so they can continue their outstanding
play.
N
t‘
stepping
behind the
by Bryan Gomolcbak
Cdkgiaa Staff
The Penn State-Bduend
baseball team is off to strong
start this season, beginning the
season with a 6-1 record. They
have gotten contributions from a
variety of players, but most of all
from Housing and Food Services'
athlete of the week, Marc
Burchanowski.
Burchanowski is a sophomore
catcher from Franklin High
School who knows how to play
baseball. He really seems to be
an asset to the Perm State-
Behrend's baseball program.
During the club's wing
training in Florida,
Burchanowski's bat and glove
came in very handy for the Lions.
He led the team in batting with
a .428 amuse and threw out six
of seven base mamas trying to
steal. Bnrchanowski has also led
the team in total tuns scored with
10 and also has been perfect in
stealing with five bases out of
five attempts.
'US
When Burchanowski was a*ed
about his performance over the
previous week. he gave a modest
answer.
"I performed up to my
capabilities and woaked hard to
improve my hitting this year. I
bring leadership qualities to the
team and a lot of players look up
to me because of my catching
ability."
Burchanowski feels he is on a
team the has the capability to
have a great season.
"I expect the team to do very
well this ear. We'll know mare
Burchanowski
up
plate
after our Capital Tournament in
Ohio because there are a lot of
tough teams down there."
Burchanowski is precisely what
the Behrend baseball coaching
staff has been looking for.
Coach Paul Benim really likes
this rising star.
"Burch epitomizes what we se
looking for in a baseball player at
Penn State-Behrend. He works
extremely had behind the plate
and makes a huge impact from
his position. Additionally, he hit
.428 and led our team in runs
sued.
Catcher is a difficult position
to play and Benim feels he has a
very quality young man at that
position.
"He stabilizes our team from
behind the dish and provides us
with necessary leadership.
Defensively, he had a superb
week throwing out six of seven
base runners attempting to steal.
Our coaching staff has tipped our
hats to him for his outstanding
week."
Teammate Quinn McGuire had
nothing but kind words the
catcher.
"He did the job behind the
plate. He hit the ball very well.
He knew what he had to do and
did it. He is going to catch a
majority of our game and has
accepted that."
Burchanowski epitomizes his
coaches' and team's philosophy,
hard work leads to bigger and
better thing. His spring training
performance could just be a taste
of what this catcher and the rest
of the Lions can do.
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