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Calendar
of Events
Behrend
Athletic
Events
Friday
Men’s Swimming
@ ECAC Championship TBA
Saturday
Men’s and Women’s Indoor
Track and Field @ ECAC
Championships TBA
Sunday
Women’s Softball
vs. Clark/Waynesburg
9/11 a.m
Men’s Baseball
vs. Hiram, 5 p.m
Men’s and Women’s Indoor
Track and Field @ ECAC
Championships TBA
Monday
Men’s Baseball
vs. Shenadoah, 11 a.m
Women’s Softball
vs. St. John Fisher/Beloit
1/4 p.m
Men’s Tennis
vs. Winona State, 2 p.m
Tuesday
Men’s Tennis
vs. Belmont Abbey, 9 a.m
Men’s Baseball
vs. Mt. Union, 10 a.m
Wednesday
Women’s Softball
vs. Wartburg/Dominican
9/11 a.m
Thursday
Women’s Softball
vs. Marywood/Worcester
9/11 a.m
Men’s Baseball
vs. Emory & Henry, 10 a.m
Friday, March 8
Men’s Tennis
vs. Hiram, 9 a.m
Women’s Water Polo
@ Southern Tournament
9/11:30 a.m
Men’s Baseball
vs. Maryville/Wesley
10a.m./1 p.m.
Women’s Softball
vs. Ursinus/Kenyon
11 a.m7l p.m.
Saturday, March 9
Men’s Baseball
vs. Beloit, 10 a.m
Women’s Water Polo
@ Southern Tournament
11:30 a.m./4 p.m.
Friday, March 15
Women’s Water Polo
Behrend Tournament
vs. Mercyhurst
Junker Center, 6 p.m.
Intramurals
Schedule
Friday
Intramural 4 on 4 Coed
Volleyball - $3
All entries must be at the
intramural office by 4 p.m. on
the scheduled date
Men’s basketball falls in ECACs
James Curren scored 41 points on Feb. 22 against Frostburg in the AMCC semifinals, the most scored in
one game in 30 years at Behrend. He was only four points short of the all-time single game record of 45.
by Zoe Rose
staff writer
The pride of the Behrend Lions
grew enormously throughout the sea
son with their 18-9 overall mark. Af
ter defeating Lake Erie, the No. 7 seed
in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate
Conference, the second-place Lions
roared onto thecourts to play a physi-
Behrend baseball begins new era on new field
by Mike Bello
sports editor
Aftera rather difficult 2001 season,
the Behrend baseball team heads into
spring training armed and ready to
begin its first season on the brand
new, recently completed baseball
field. What’s not new, however, are
the faces who will lead the charge.
The Lions return nearly all of their
starting lineup from a year ago,
including nine seniors who form the
j Scholarship fund
i A memorial scholarship fund has been set up in memory of Kevin m
■ Dare, the Penn State athlete who died Feb. 23 at the Big Ten Indoor ■
” Track and Field Championships. m
■ Dare, 19, died when he fell to the ground head first while making a ■
J pole vault attempt at the championships in Minneapolis. m
■ Dare is a former Track and Field Junior U.S. national champion and ■
J Pennsylvania high school pole vault champion. "
■ The Dare family has requested that all contributions in memory of ■
J Kevin be made to: "
■ Kevin Dare Pole Vaulting Memorial Scholarship Fund
J Penn State University
■ Old One Main
J University Park, PA 16802
■ Checks should be made out to Penn State University.
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■+
cally demanding and emotional game
against Frostburg, ranked third. The
Bobcats came out with an 83-74 win,
but that did not put a damper on the
2001-2002 season.
The Lions then gained a chance to
continue on in the postseason, accept
ing a bid for the No. 5 seed in the 2002
Eastern College Athletic Conference
Division 111 men’s Southern Region
core of a team ready to put last season
behind them. The Lions not only
finished 18-20 - the first time in four
years they didn’t reach 20 wins - but
lost the AMCC championship game
in the bottom of the ninth inning
against Pitt-Bradford, 4-3.
What’s worse, the team did not get
the chance to play any games on
campus due to the construction of the
field. All of that is about to change.
Coach Paul Benim said the players are
primed to begin play on their new
Basketball Championship Tourna
ment.
The Lions lost in the opening round
of the ECACs 67-61 to the Lebanon
Valley Dutchmen, ranked fourth.
Lebanon advanced to the semifinals
and will play top-seeded Franklin &
Marshall College. The Blue and
White never lost focus throughout the
game, as there were several lead
field, located east of the lower Reed
parking lot.
“I would think so. I know I am,”
said Benim. ”We actually for the first
time practiced on that field, which
would have been Monday (Feb. 25).
That was probably one of the greatest
days of my life and definitely one of
my best Behrend days.”
"The new field gives the team a
renewed enthusiasm and desire to
perform,” said senior Jake Boyle. “We
all want to make the first full season
on the new field a memorable one and
show that the college made a wise
investment. I personally can’t wait
until we get to play the first game on
Boyle and senior Jason Karas, both
possible June draft picks, lead the
charge on offense for the Lions. Boyle
(OF), last year’s AMCC MVP, hit
.400 last season with eight home runs,
43 RBIs, and 50 hits, while scoring
48 runs. He also stole a team-high 11
bases. Karas (3B) batted .387 and tied
the school record for RBIs in a season
with 49. Karas added four homers
with 31 runs and 49 hits.
Craig Ottaviani (SS) hit .322 last
year, with 38 hits, 15 RBIs, and 46
runs scored. Luke Bundy (C) had 30
hits while batting .300, knocking in
18 runs and scoring 20. Shortstop
Kurt Himrod (.340,18 hits, 12 RBIs)
and catcher Chris Shearer (.337, 31,
15) provide added punch senior punch
on an offense that hit a team-record
.335 last year.
With an abundance of seniors on the
team, Benim knows the team is
prepared for the season and its
difficult conference opponents.
“We’re definitely going to rely on
our experience,” said Benim. “That’s
pretty important to us (nine seniors).
Walt Weiss said it best when he said
experience doesn’t mean anything
until you have it. We’re fortunate that
we have a lot of it.”
“Of course we can win the (AMCC)
title,” said Pifer. “As a team we
believe in our goal to win our
conference. But there is always work
to be done. We have to improve each
time we practice and each time we
have a game.”
The three other seniors will play a
changes.
“The team took a large step this
year from last year,” said Steve
Merrill on the recent end to their sea
son in the ECAC opening round. “We
all contributed to the success of the
team in one way or another.”
The semifinals of the AMCC heated
up, as the Lions were ready to pounce
on the Bobcats. The game was played
as expected, with a dogfight that led
to neither squad being able to gather
much breathing room in the first 20
minutes of action. At the 11:29 mark
of the first half, Behrend was down
16-11 before going on a 10-5 spurt to
tie the game at 21.
The Blue and White gained control
with four free throws from James
Curren, along with a 3-pointer by
Matt Keith to up the score to 32-30 in
the half. The lead tossed back and
forth until the end of the half, when
the score was tied 36-36.
Behrend secured another tie during
the second stanza when they evened
the scored at 53-all. The Bobcats went
on a 9-0 run to gain the biggest lead
of the game, 62-53, with 9:24 to play.
Curren dominated the courts for the
Behrend side as he shot 15-of-20 from
the floor for a game-high 41 points.
The Lions fought until the end as the
Bobcats secured their victory by mak
ing 7-of-8 free throws in the final
minute.
After the game against Lebanon
Valley, Curren ended the season as the
• #■
'i-.
PHOTO BY MIKE BELLO / BEHREND BEACON
Senior Craig Ottaviani throws to Chuck Sevin on Monday during the
Lions’ only practice on their new field so far this year. Behrend plays
their first home game on March 23 against Penn State Altoona.
key role for the Lions on the mound.
Chuck Sevin led the team with a 3.27
ERA, striking out 24 in 33 innings.
Brian Pifer pitched 29 2/3 innings,
striking out 34 with a 5.46 ERA.
Southpaw Bob Palivoda returns in top
form after an arm injury in 2001.
The team will also rely on three
junior pitchers, who were the top three
starters last season. T.J. Aldrich
pitched 43 innings with a 4.40 ERA
and racked up 38 Ks. Kevin Dubyak
had a 6.44 ERA in 43 1/3 innings with
28 strikeouts. Ryan Seyler started nine
games, pitching 50 2/3 innings with a
team-high 45 strikeouts and a 4.44
ERA.
Rounding out the staff are freshmen
Chris Kechisen, Jason Shaffer, Matt
Szymanski, and sophomore Bill Zore.
Other position players include junior
first baseman Keith Lepionka (.330,
five home runs, 37 hits, 28 runs, 22
No. 1 scorer on the team. Season ac
complishments for Curren include
15.8 points per game, 7.8 rebounds
per game, and a solid 54.3 shooting
percentage from the floor. Following
in second was Casey Ponsoll with
11.1 ppg, and Merrill with 1 03 assists
and 10.2 ppg.
With his impressive 41 -point game.
Curren tied the third place record for
the most points scored in a single
game in Behrend’s history. Glen
McKinney also scored 41 points in a
game, during the 1971-1972 season.
Landing in first place with 45 points
in a single game was Doug
Zimmerman in the 1969-1970 season
followed by 43 points by Jim
Golembski in Behrend’s 1962-1963
season.
Frostburg State went on to face Pitt-
Bradford in what was an invigorating
championship final. Last Saturday
afternoon, Bradford earned the
AMCC title, pushing the Bobcats into
overtime before outlasting them 102-
99.
Keith is the only Lion not return
ing next season. Merrill, the team's
only junior, will provide the most ex
perience next year.
"I think that we had a great season,
even though we didn’t finish the way
we wanted to,” said Tom Lulich on
the season. “We came together as a
team and grew as a team and because
of that, next year we will be even bet
ter.”
RBIs), sophomores Mike Couts (OF).
Tim Stafford (OF), Tyler Wiand (2B).
Tony Azzato (3B), and Adam Best
(OF), as well as newcomers Vinnie
Canzano (SS) and Marc Barrett (C).
Behrend begins its season during
spring break when it plays seven
games in seven days in Fort Myers.
Fla. The Lions will look to improve
on their game in an outdoor
environment, as they've had only one
practice outdoors so far. The
conference season begins March 23.
The players look forward to the
Florida trip, which gives them a
chance to work out the little things
that often make the difference in
games.
"Whenever you play a game, you
play to win, but our Florida trip gets
BASEBALL SPRING TRAINING
continued on page 5B