Thursday, April 18, /996 Seven out of eight fall to Lions The Lions are on fire! Using a catch ESPN phrase is the best way to describe the current Behrend baseball club. Haiti Coach Paul Benim and the Lions have won seven out of their last eight, evening up their record at 15-15. This is the most wins in a season since the school entered the Division 111 ranks in 1985. Yesterday, baffling the wind and cold temperatures, the Lions swept a doubleheader over Hilbert College 2-1 and 7- The first game was a pitchers duel. No runs were scored in the first game until the fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth, Eten Hager led off the inning with a walk, then stole second. Hager scored on a single to left by Ryan Camuso to give the Lions a 1-0 lead. The Lions added their second run in the bottom of the' sixth. Bill Vitron doubled to right-center with one out. Vitron scored on a single to left by John Matson. Behrend starter John Ronan had mowed down Hilbert hitters through six innings. Ronan appeared to be cruising to a shutout, but ran into a little snag in the top of the seventh inning. Ronan allowed two hits and a walk in which Hilbert scored its only run. But Ronan shut the door on Hilbert with the tying run at second base. Ronan finished with a complete game allowing a run on four hits, striking out five and walking two. Ronan was very modest of his performance. "We were hitting the ball and playing defense. I was just one of nine people out there and doing the job," Ronan said. Ronan was right about the Lions playing good defense. The Lions did not commit an error in the game. In the second game, Behrend was able to put a little more offense on the board. The Lions scored a single run in the bottom of the first. Daryl Schmidt reached on an error and stole second. Schmidt scored on a single by Vitron. That score stood until the top of the fourth. Behrend starter Tom Revak allowed two walks in the inning, which eventually scored. Benim went to hit bullpen and brought in Bob Vadala who got a ground ball to third to end the Hilbert threat. Behrend responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth. Matson started the inning by reaching on an error. Jeff Hortsman singled putting runners on first and third. Hager lifted a sacrifice fly to right scoring Matson. Then John Green singled to left scoring Hortsman, giving the Lions a 3-2 lead. Hilbert came back in top of the fifth by tying the score at three. This would be the only run Vadala would allow. The bottom of the fifth saw Behrend open up the flood gates by scoring four runs in the inning. Quinn McGuire started the inning / by reaching on an error. He stole second and was sacrificed to third by Schmidt. Matson singled to left scoring McGuire. After a Hortsman double, Hager throttled a pitch to deep right scoring both Matson and Hortsman. Hager scored the final run of the inning on a single by Camuso. • • Collegian File photo Play ball: The umpire [center] tells Behrend catcher Marc Burchanowski and the opposing batter to step to the plate. The Lions have heated up recently, winning seven out of eight. They play their final two home games of the season this Saturday and Sunday. First pitch each day is 1 p.m. by Nick Zulovich Sports Editor Sports Vadala pitched the final three and a third innings for the win, his fourth of the season. Hager finished with three RBIs and two runs scored. Matson and Hortsman scored two runs apiece. Benim was very happy how his team played in the afternoon. "We're doing a lot of things right because of and have,to look at our pitching," stated Benim. Sunday the Lions traveled to Washington and Jefferson. Etehreixl split the doubleheader with the Presider s, winning the first game 15- 6 and losing the second 12-7. Matt Hoban pitched a complete game, striking out six and not walking a single batter. Behrend scored seven runs in the first inning, and pounded out lb hits in the game. Hortsman hit a three run home run and finished with four RBIs. Vitron had three hits and scored three runs. McGuire, Hager, Green and Schmidt scored two runs apiece. We're looking forward to this weekend. We're playing well in our last eight games. If we continue to play well, things should go our way. The second game Vadala left the contest after two innings, allowing six runs and walking three. Revak did not fair much better in the next two inning giving up seven earned runs. Matson and Schmidt had two hits apiece in the nightcap. Schmidt had two RBIs and Hager, McGuire and Hortsman scored two runs each. The road trip was a costly one for the Lions as catcher Marc Burchanowski was hit in the knee with a pitch. He has been disabled since me incident and the Behrend coaching staff is not sure when the star catcher will be back in action. "He is a big part of our program and somebody. you don't want to lose," Benim said. Burchanowski said it was a play he did not have much time to react "I just froze. It was a fastball on the inside comer of the plate. I just couldn't move fast enough," explained Burchanowski. With absence of Burchanowski, Benim has shuffled his players around, using Hortsman behind the plate and Vitron exclusively at first. Benim is happy Horstman has been able to adjust to many positions. "Hortsman has caught, played first and played right field. One of Jeff's biggest strengths is his versatility. That is something that really helps us out," stated Benim. Last Thursday was when the Lions improved their play starting with a doubleheader sweep of Grove City. I3ehrend used good offensiveproduction to defeat the Wolverines 7-2 and 11-6. Ronan pitched another complete game in the first contest, allowing just seven hits and two runs. Vitron went three for four in the first game, scoring two runs. McGuire and Burchanowski scored two runs apiece. Matson and Revak had two RBIs each. The sex:ond game saw Schmidt go the distance, allowing six runs on eight hits. McGuire, Burchanowski, VitrOn and Camuso scored two runs apiece, while Matson was the force behind all of those runs, driving in four. Benim feels that though his team is relatively young, they have steadily improved all season. "It's a case of we're a young team and at times we do young things. They're doing a lot of good things and we're really happy with that." The Lions.play their final home games this weekend against Laßoche and Case Western. First pitch on both Saturday and Sunday is 1 p.m. Benim is ready for this weekend since his club is playing so well "We're looking forward to this weekend. We're playing very well in our last eight games. If we continue to play well, things should go our way." -Head Coach Paul Benim Page Game 1 versus Hilbert ab r h bi 3000 McGuire cf 30 0 0 Schmidt ss 21 1 0 Vitron 1 b 30 1 1 Matson 3b 30 0 0 Housman c 21 0 0 20 0 0 Hager ri Green 2b Camuso If 2 0 1 1 20 0 0 Carper dh 000-000-1 - 1 000-011-x -2 Ronan, W (4-1) 71P, 4H, IR, 1 ER,2813, 5 SO Game 2 versus Hilbert ab r h bi 41 0 0 McGuire cf 31 0 0 Schmidt ss 30 1 1 Vitron lb 32 1 1 Matson 3b 32 2 0 Hortsman c Hager ff 3 2 2 3 Camuso If 3 0 1 1 30 2 1 Green 2b 30 0 0 Weaver dh Hil- 000-210-0 - 3 Beh- 100-240-x - 7 Revak 32/31P 21-4, 2R, OER, 388,150 tNI /4 5) 6ER,I 88, 3SO Game 1 versus Grove City abr hbi McGuire If 4 1 2 0 Burchanowski c 4 2 2 0 42 3 1 Vitron 1 b 40 1 2 Matson 3b Hortsman rf 3 1 1 0 20 1 2 Revak ss 30 1 1 Orend cf Weaver dh 3 0 0 0 31 1 0 Green 2b 000-020-0 - 2 203-200 -x - 7 Ronan, W (3-1) 71P, 7H, 2R, OER, 088, 3SO Game 2 versus Grove. City ab r h bi McGuire If 2 2 2 1 Burchanowski c 2 2 1 2 42 2 2 Vitron dh 41 2 4 Matson 3b Hortsman 1 b 3 0 1 1 40 0 0 Revak ss Orend cf Green 2b 31 1 0 11 0 1 22 1 0 Camuso rf 040-000-2 - 6 202-205-x - 11 Schmidt, W (3-4) 71P, BH, 6R, 4ER, 288, BSO Game 1 versus W&J ab r h bi 42 2 0 McGuire ct Burchanowski c 3 1 1 0 01 0 0 10 0 0 43 3 1 Carper pr Vadala rf Viron dh 31 1 1 Matson 3b Hortsman lb-c 4 1 1 4 42 2 2 Hager rf-1 b 42 2 0 Green 2b 32 2 1 Schmidt ss 40 2 2 Camuso If 740-040-0 - 15 000-231-0 - 6 Holian, W 12-11 71P, %OH, 6R, SER, 088, 6SO Game 2 versus W&J abr hbi McGuire If 4 2 1 0 Green 2b 2 0 0 0 Vital 1b 4 0 1 1 Matson 3b 2 1 2 1 Horstman c 4 2 1 1 Hager it 2 2 1 0 Revak cih-p-ss 1 0 1 1 Gaskey p 1 0 0 0 Schmidt ss-p 3 0 2 2 Camuso cf 3 0 1 0 30(.102-1 132-240-x - Vadala, L (3-5) 2IP, 6H, 4R, 3ER, 288, 1 SO Revak 21P, BH, 7R, 7ER, 188, OSO Schmidt 11P, 2H, IR, IER, oss, OSO Gaskey 11P, OH, OR, OER, 288, 3SO
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