Kevin Fiorenzo & Amy Frizzell, , orts editors On Deck Behrend Athletic Events Saturday Women's Water Polo Behrend Invitational TBD Men's Tennis vs. Pitt-Greensburg 11 a.m. Baseball @ Penn State Altoona 1 p.m. Sunday Women's Water Polo Behrend Invitational TBD Baseball vs. Bethany 1 p.m. Tuesday Softball vs. Medaille 3 p.m. Women's Water Polo @ Slippery Rock vs. Grove City 7:45 p.m. Wednesday Baseball vs. Hilbert 1 p.m Thursday Softball @ Westminster 3 p.m. Friday Women's Water Polo @ Grove City 9 p.m. Intramural Schedule Men's, Women's and COED Volleyball Play begins Monday Men's, Women's and COED Soccer Entry Deadline March 26 Men's, Women's and COED Team Triathlon Entry Deadline April 2 Baseball team opens the season in Florida Lions go 5-4 during spring training at Port St. Lucie by Kevin Fiorenzo sports editor The baseball team began its season with an uneven week, going 5-4 while in Florida over Spring Break. After finishing last season 33-10 and winning the AMCC and ECAC Southern region titles, the team was prepared to begin the new season. The Lions began the season by traveling to Port St. Lucie, Fla. to play nine games against opponents from all over the country. The Behrend squad opened the season with a 16-6 win against Manhattanville on March 7. The Lions led 9-6 going into the sixth inning and a seven-run final inning capped off the Behrend rout. Junior Vinnie Canzano and seniors Brad Shamitko and Tyler Wiand all had doubles in the game. Seniors Mitch Reckner and Tony Azzato and sophomore Shane Elzer garnered one triple apiece. The winning pitcher and preseason AMCC pitcher of the year was senior Jason Shaffer and the save went to freshman Brian Hart. The next day, the Lions split two games against Susquehanna and Simpson. Against Susquehanna, Behrend held a lead the entire game and game away with a comfortable 15-6 win. Shamitko hit a double and Kordecki had a double and a triple. Senior and AMCC preseason player of the year Adam Best also stole two bases. Sophomore pitcher Ray DeVaul earned the win, pitching six innings and giving up six runs and 11 hits. In the following game the same day, the Lions fell short against Simpson by a 11-4 final score. The game was scoreless after three innings, but Simpson scored 11 runs in the next three innings to pull away. Kordecki had a double and the losing pitcher was Matt Szymanski, who pitched four innings and had eight strikeouts. On Wednesday, the Lions faced another two game set against Bethany and Rivier. Against Bethany, the Lions scored six runs over the second and third innings. That would be enough to come away with a 6-3 victory. Canzano had a triple in the game. The winning pitcher was Women's water polo looks to improve at Invitational Freshman Cara Ludwig plays a pivotal role in the Lions offense this year, scoring 18 goals this season. The Lions enter into the Behrend Invitational thiS weekend at 1-9 (0-2 in conference play). by Scott Soltis assisstant managing editor The women's water polo team has been struggling so far in the season. The team is a dismal 1-9, but hopes to make a positive impact on that record this weekend in the team's first home games against Ottawa, Grand Valley State and Western Michigan. These games are in conjunction with the Behrend Invitational. Currently the Lions are 0-2 in conference play, which places them in last place in the Collegiate Water Polo Association's Western Division. A major reason why the team is struggling out of the gates is Behrend's defense. The team is allowing an average of 11 goals to be scored on it per game. Couple that with an offense only scoring five goals per game, and there is going to be trouble. The two players trying to fill the vacancy left by goalie Lauren Packer are struggling to stop SPORTS Friday, March 19, 2004 sophomore Chris McCartney, who pitched a complete game and gave up eight hits. Behrend followed that contest up with a game against Rivier, whom the Lions routed 21-4. While leading 8-1 after three innings, Behrend exploded for six runs in the fourth and seven in the sixth to get the easy win. Best, seniors Tim Stafford and Mike Couts and freshman Luke Forrest each hit a double. Hart and sophomore Eddie George both hit triples. The winning pitcher was freshman Christian Necheff, who had six strikeouts and gave up only two runs. Thursday, the Lions played one game against Clarion, losing 7-4. Behrend scored four runs late in the game, but it was too little too late. Azzato had Behrend's sole multiple base hit, with a double. Shaffer earned the loss for the Lions, going 4.1 innings and giving up seven The Lions bounced back on Friday with a solid 9-5 win over Northland. The Lions next faced Simpson for the second time. Unfortunately, the Lions were unable to improve on their previous experience, falling 7-3. Simpson got five runs early and led comfortably the rest of the way. Hart and Elzer each had doubles in the game. The losing pitcher was DeVaul, going all six innings with six K's. Behrend finished out its week in Florida with a Saturday game against St. Scholastica. In a low-scoring affair, the Lions lost 2-1. Their only run came in the sixth inning. Necheff pitched a complete game and earned the loss. The Lions' record now stands at 5-4 and, weather permitting, they will begin conference play with a doubleheader at Penn State Altoona on Saturday. Last year, the Lions lost both of their regular season matchups with Altoona. They were able to defeat them, though, in the first round of the AMCC Tournament by 6-2. Last year's AMCC player of the year, Best, started out his season on a high note. He was named the conference player fo the week, hitting .458 and getting a hit in seven straight games. He also went 5 of 7 in stolen bases. shots with a combined 73 saves and 72 goals against Stopping half of the shots will not be enough to lead Behrend to many victories this year. A bright spot on the defense has been freshman Brittany Yost, who leads the team with 23 steals. So far this young season, freshman center Cara Ludwig has been the Lions' offense. She has scored 18 of the team's 40 goals this season and needs a teammate to step it up. The next highest goal scorer on the squad is senior Sarah McGarvey with eight. Ludwig also leads the team in shot percentage with 58 percent of her shots finding the goal. This is miles away from the next best percentage on the team of 29 percent. The Lions hope that as their young team gains experience, the numbers and the victories will come. Until then, the team may struggle to keep its head above water. The Behrend Beacon Super Seven During the past three seasons, these seniors amassed a record of 86 wins and 38 losses. 2003 AMCC Player of the Year, Ist-Team All-ECAC Mike Cows Looks to return to form after a shoulder injury kept him out of most of 2003 Mitch Reckner Set school record for RBIs in 2003 with 56 Tyler Wiand Hit .319 and scored 29 runs as the Lions third baseman Tony Azzato Produced six game-winning RBIs in 2003 Brad Shamitko Started all 43 games behind the plate last season Tim Stafford Batted a career-high .411 and knocked in 25 RBIs in 2003 Page
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