page /2 - The Behrend College Collegian. Thursday, March 19, 1998 Men's baseball team starts off season 5-2 after southern swing in Florida by Dylan Stewart .rportc editor The Penn State - Behrend men's baseball team got their season off to quite a different start in 1998 as com pared to the start they had only a year before in 1997. The Lions traveled down to Fort Fierce. Florida and came away with a solid mark of 5 -2, as compared to their dreadful 1997 mark of 0 - 8. "One of the biggest differences this year was that we had many more ex perienced players that knew what they needed to do," said head coach Paul Benim. "I think that we really have a good group of guys on this team, and if you have good quality people, I think that you will be successful. The roots to success are high quality people," added Benim. Timely hitting, strong defense, and dominating pitching performances highlighted the week, and played a major part in the Lions' success. As a team, the Lions batted a healthy .316, compared to their op ponents mere .256 batting average. "Our overall statistics were out standing," said Benim. "If we are able to swing the bat that well for the whole year I think that we will be able to put up some very big numbers by year's end," added Benim. Senior captain Marc Burchanowski led the team offense with 10 hits in 25 plate appearances, which equals out to an even .400 batting average. Sophomore Mike Thompson also had a big week as he came away 9 - 19 at the plate with a team leading .473 batting average, while freshmen Matt Slavonic had an impressive week going 7 - 15 with a .466 aver age. Both Thompson and Slavonic also came away with a team leading six RBl's apiece. FRATERNITI Sigma Tau Gamma Delta Chi Zeta Beta Tau Tau Kappa Epsilon Sigma Kappa Nu INDEPENDENT Rush Violators 1633 98 Jolly Ranchers 1 935 18 Scrubs 716 38 Niagara 328 0 Mustangs 266 {0 RESIDENCE HALL Pen - v 2 300 [25 Niagara 1 West 30 0 Perry 1 90 0 Porcupine 1205 0 WOMEN'S I Lemon Heads 785 0 Theta Phi Alpha Team Niagara Alpha Sigma Tau 1 COED 1 1, . . 775 10 110 120 10 0 0 0 1 - _ ,t Scrubs 1625 I 0 30 110 0 0 0 10 KDR-Theta Phi 560 10 0 0 0 0 0 10 10 1560 3 o II Milk Duds ZB TN A However, the most glaring advan tage the Lions held throughout the week came on the basepaths. Behrend stole an amazing 32 - 33 bases, compared to their opponents 4 - 7 steals. The lack of opponents' sto len bases is due in large part to the cannon right arm of senior catcher Marc Burchanowski, with also a little help from sophomore catcher Dylan Stewart. Behrend finished sth in NCAA Divison 111 in steals two years ago, before dropping to 18th last year. If the Lions continue to burn the base paths at this rapid pace, don't be sur prised to see them back in the top five at the end of 1998. On the pitching front, the Lions hurlers were able to come away with a low 3.18 ERA (earned - run aver age). Sophomore Rob Green led all hurl ers with a 1.13 ERA, while also lead ing the team in strikeouts with sixteen in twelve innings pitched. Sophomore Corey Walters also contributed in the effort with six strikeouts in six innings pitched, and a 2.33 ERA. The Lions started their week out with an exciting 9 - 8 come from be hind victory against Earlham College. Sophomore center fielder Jeremy Brubaker proved to be the one - man wrecking crew in the contest, as he was 3 - 5 at the plate with a double, triple, and a clutch solo homer in the seventh inning. Behrend found themselves down 8 - 7 in the bottom of the seventh when Jeremy Brubaker came up to bat with I out. Brubaker then proceeded to mash a 1 - 0 fastball 375 feet over the right field fence to tie the game and send it into extra innings. "It was awesome," said head coach 1 775 0 150 all 240 4vb . 6vb Socr o o . . O 0 O 0 o 0 O 0 o o o 0 o 0 0 0 0 0 o 0 o 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Paul Benim. The Lions then went on to take the game in the bottom of the eighth by a score of 9 - 8. Junior transfer Ryan Smith came away with the victory as he came on in the 7th and Bth innings to nail down the win "It was a huge come from behind win," said sophomore Dylan Stewart. "It was real nice to start the week off with a victory and get that 0 - 8 Florida monkey off our back from the get go," added Stewart. The Lions next had to play Dela ware Valley later in the same day. Behrend lost the contest by a score of 3 -2, as they were handed a taste of their own medicine by, being de feated in the bottom of the seventh. The Lions started the game off by jumping ahead by a score of 2 - 0 in the first inning, before the Behrend bats fell into a coma for the rest of the game as they were never again able to put up a single run. The Lions were outhit by a count of nine to six, while also committing three errors compared to one error by Delaware Valley. Jeremy Brubaker led the offense as he was 2 - 4 from the plate with two singles Rob Green pitched five strong in nings, giving up two earned runs and striking out four. On the second day of the Florida swing the Lions were able to knock off Anna Maria college of Massachu setts by a count of 6 - 4. Trailing 3 -1 in the fourth inning, Behrend used an error, an HBP, and basehits by Dylan Stewart and Kit Bower to jump ahead to a 4 - 3 lead. In the sixth inning, Ryan Smith singled and stole second and third base, before scoring what proved to I Swim Bad 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 o 0 0 0 0 0 834 0 0 1° 0 0 0 0 0 0 265 ... . 0 0 90 0 0 355 o 0 1005 0 0 435 ,~i` , . Sports be the game winner on David William's perfectly executed suicide squeeze Freshmen James Calpin received the victory, going four innings, while striking out and walking 3 batters. Ryan Smith came on for an inning and a third, giving up one hit and strik ing out two to nail down the save. Corey Walters and Ryan Smith each smashed two hits apiece to lead the offense for the Lions. On day three of the trip the Lions were able to sweep a pair of games from Norwich University by scores of 6 - 3. and 15- 1. The Lions trailed game one by a score of 3 - 2 in the sixth inning when Dylan Stewart led off the inning with a single, then stole second, before advancing to third on a fielder's choice. Stewart then scored to tie up the game and send it into extra innings by coming home on Dan Orelski's suicide squeeze. Behrend then put the game away in the eighth, scoring three runs on hits by Mike Thompson and Matt Slavonic, and another on a squeeze by Jeremy Brubaker. Corey Walters was very tough in his first start of the year, going six in nings, while allowing only two earned runs and striking out six without is suing a single walk. Freshmen Dave Oldach pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth inning, striking out three to earn the victory. Mike Thompson had two singles to lead the Lions at the plate. 1 Rank 1 3 I 4 courtesy of Behrend Athletics Third baseman junior Ryan Smith and sophomore shortstop David Williams get them selves ready to make a play. 1 -, 3 5 4 -, 3 4 1 .~s;. courtesy of Behrend Athletics Senior captain Athlete of the Week Marc Burchanowski gets dirty while blocking a wld pitch. The second game of the twinbill was never even close as Behrend jumped out to an 8 - 0 lead after the first inning, before the game was stopped in the fifth inning with the Lions winning 15 - 1. Freshmen Joe Thompson went three innings of work, allowing no runs, and striking out four. Morgan Saeler came on to close out the game by throwing the last two innings, al lowing one earned run. Mike Thompson again led the Be hrend offense with 3 hits, 3 runs scored, and 2 RBl's. Jeremy Brubaker, Kit Bower, Matt Slavonic, and Shawn Headly paced the rest of the offense with two hits apiece, as the Lions smashed out a bruising 16 hits. Day four of the trip provided much of the same as the day before, as Be hrend pounded Swarthmore, by a merciless score of 15 -2. Sophomore Rob Green was sharp on the hill as he went a complete game seven innings, while allowing no earned runs and striking out twelve. Green also only allowed four hits the entire game, while only allowing two runs, both of which were unearned. Freshmen Matt Slavonic paced the offense with three hits, two runs scored, and one RBI. Jeremy Brubaker and David Oldach each had two hits and three RBl's, while Marc Burchanowski and David Williams each came away with two hits apiece. Dylan Stewart had two HBP's (hit OARD TEAM RECORDS aseball s Softball by pitch), as he again looks to lead the team in '9B, as he did in '97 in finding the baseball with his body. The only big letdown of the week came on the final day of the trip, as the Lions looked to avenge their only loss of the trip when they earlier fell to Delaware Valley 3 - 2 at the begin ning of the week. The Lions however forgot to bring themselves to the game, as they were handed a medieval beating by a score of 12 - I. "It was a complete physical and mental breakdown," said Dylan Stewart. "Although they threw a good pitcher at us. they were no team we couldn't heat. I thought they were a very beatable. We just never gave ourselves a chance," said Stewart. Delaware Valley's 6'6" senior right hander struck out twelve Lions, while only allowing one earned run. The only Lion worth mentioning happened to be senior Marc Burchanowski, as he went 2 - 4 with one RBI. "The end result of the week was very good," said coach Benim. "Our players are capable of making many things happen, and if we play the way we arc capable, we should continue to win hallgames," said Benim. The Lions will next be in action when they travel to Thiel College next Tuesday for a doubleheader. Behrend will not play a home contest for at least two more weeks. Exact dates will he available in next week's issue.
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