Page 10
Lady Lions drop
struggle to hold No.
by Ray Immekus
staff writer
The Behrend softball team went 0-4 last week,
dropping to 5 - 19 overall and 5-3 in the Allegh
eny Mountain Collegiate Conference. The cur
rent four-game skid by the Lady Lions follows a
three-game winning streak that catapulted
Behrend to first place in the AMCC. The Lady
Lions still hold a game lead over Pitt-Bradford
and Penn State Altoona in the conference.
On Wednesday, Behrend traveled to
Westminster for a double-header against the Ti
tans. The Lions lost a close one to Westminster in
The Lady Lions will have to hustle to stay in
the No. 1 spot for the AMCC tournament.
1
II I I
I I
I II
II I I
Goes undefeated in conference, looks ahead to conference tournament
by Amy Frizzell
sports editor
After defeating conference foes Frostburg State
and Pitt-Greensburg, the men's tennis team finished
out its regular season conference play with a per
fect 6-0 record. The Lions also defeated non-con
ference Fredonia State, 8-1.
The Lions hosted Fredonia on Wednesday in the
Blue Devils' first match of their season.
"It was a good win," said coach Jeff Barger.
"Since they aren't in our conference it gave the guys
a chance to relax and just play a good match before
the AMCCs.-
The blue and white traveled to Pitt-Greensburg
on Friday. This would he the last time the two teams
would meet before the AMCC Championships. The
Lions came away with a 9-0 win.
First doubles team junior Ryan Deimel and
sophomore John Marini took the win with a 8-0
victory. Sophomore Jon Barber and freshman Brian
Espin followed with a 8-3 win, while sophomore
Kevin Fiorenzo and senior Jeremiah Gutherie took
the win at third doubles, 8-0 to sweep doubles play.
Deimel had a 6-0, 6-0 win at first singles, Marini
tallied up a 6-2, 6-2 win at second. At third Barber
took a 6-1, 6-0 win, while Espin backed him up
with a 6-3, 6-3 win at fourth. Fiorenzo and fresh
man Matt Meyer both had 6-0, 6-0 wins at fifth
and sixth singles.
"Fortunately we all played well and we got the
win," said Barber of the team's second meeting with
the Bobcats.
On Saturday the Lions clinched the regular sea
son crown and its perfect conference record when
it defeated Frostburg for the second time.
"The Pitt-Greensburg match helped our confi
dence going into the Frostburg match," said Bar
ber.
The blue and white once again swept doubles.
Deimel and Marini won 8-6 in a tiebreaker when
their score reached 8-8, coming away with a 9-8
win. Barber and Espin won 8-6 as Meyer and fresh
man Garrett Grenek took the last win at 9-7.
After playing one game, Frostburg's first singles
player forfeited to Deimel. Barber took the win at
'I "NNI/Nti
Housing & rit.
Food Service MPF
Athlete
of the
Week
SPORTS
game one, falling 5-
4.
"We just need to
stay focused and
keep in mind what
we need to accom
plish," said sopho
more Kim Raff.
"Maybe we could of
pulled that out if we
did stay focused."
In game two, the
Titans shut out
Behrend 8-0.
"We just mentally
weren't there. That
has been a problem
that has plagued us,"
said senior Brandy
Polinick.
The following
day, the Panthers of
Pitt-Bradford hosted
the Lady Lions for
two games. Behrend was handed its second shut
out in as many games with a 3-0 loss to Bradford
in game one, and lost their fourth straight in game
two by a score of 6-5.
"They were hitting real well and because they
were hitting that kind of broke us down and they
came back to win the game," said Raff.
"The defense was good but we didn't play well
in the rain," said sophomore Lindsey Stankus.
"The rain brought us down because we were mak
ing a lot of errors. Those games it was hard to
find anything positive."
The two nonconference losses dropped the
women's record to 5-17 but did not affect the
team's conference standings. It remains in first
third 6-0, 6-4. Fiorenzo provided a win
at fifth 6-3, 6-2. Meyer rounded out
singles play, winning 6-3, 6-2. The Li
ons walked away with a 7-2 win.
"They played well. After the last time
they played I wanted to see a better score
this time and I did," said Barger, refer
ring to the team's 5-4 win over Frostburg
in the two team's first meeting.
"We're pretty pleased. This is the first
time Behrend has ever gone undefeated
in the conference," said Barber of the
team's enthusiasm.
Next up for the team will be the
AMCC Championships that will be held
at Behrend this year. After last year's
third place finish the team is looking to
take the crown back since its last cham
pionship win in 1998, the first year the
tournament was held.
"Right now our only concern is
Frostburg," said Barber. "We feel they
will be our toughest opponent on Satur
day."
Frostburg finished just above the Li
ons in last year's playoffs, while Altoona
walked away with the crown for the sec
ond year in a row. This year the Lions
are focusing their attention to Frostburg.
"The guys had a pretty easy time with
Altoona this year," said Barger.
"They're pretty confident in their abili
ties over Altoona, so they are really fo
cusing on Frostburg who possess our
only real threat."
Behrend will go into the tournament
holding down five No. 1 seeds while
Frostburg has the other four.
"Having a No. 1 seed will basically
guarantee an easy first round for us," said Espin
"Which will be nice."
Barber, Fiorenzo and Meyer all have first seeds
in their singles flights as doubles teams Espin and
Barber, and Meyer and Grenek also have one.
The men haven't done much to change their game
plan before AMCCs.
Chris McCartney
Friday, April 16, 2004
four
1 spot
record, which has put them in the No. 1 spot. The team is looking to
maintain its position as it fights for the AMCC championship crown.
team _irence , a per
fect record of 6-0. It will next play In the AMCC tour
nament on Saturday.
games,
n AMCC
place in the conference, but is losing ground with
every loss.
The Lady Lions will play eight games in the
next six days, four of which are against confer-
ence foes
Today the Lions will travel to Frostburg for a
Saturday conference matchup. Frostburg is 3-1
in the division and 16-9 overall.
The blue and white will have off on Sunday and
Monday, and then they will travel to La Roche
for two games on the 20th. La Roche is 2-0 in the
conference with a 2-8 overall record.
The Lady Lions will finish off their season with
the AMCC tournament, which will be held on May
1 -2.
"Even though our consistency hasn't been lack
ing that much we're still working on it," said Bar
ber. "Overall we're just going to go in with the
same confidence we've had all year."
"They've been able play well using their confi
dence," said Barger. "If it's not broken then don't
fix it."
Sport: Baseball
Class: Sophomore For on, McCartney leads
Date: April 12, 2004 th in ERA at 1.78. He
3-1 record and 20
McCartney was one y
trik , w ve aided the
players in game one o s' ion in b 4-4 in the
doubleheader against F o u conference.
Monday. nd white is .
McCartney pitched for fiv day against Thiel at
nings and gave up two hit day they will pla
runs and had six strikeouts at home against
Pitt-Greensburg.
Lions' 11-3 rout of Fredonia.
Kevin Fiorenzo & Amy Frizzell
The Behrend Beacon
Baseball
team rises
to .500 in
AMCC
play
by Kevin Fiorenzo
The baseball team swept a doubleheader this
past weekend against Lake Erie and split one with
Fredonia on Monday.
This past Monday, the Lions traveled to
Fredonia for a doubleheader with their non-con
ference foe.
In the opening game, the Lions routed Fredonia
by an 11-3 final score.
Behrend got six runs in the first three innings,
four of them coming in the third. The Lions
tacked on five more runs in the game to come
away with the easy win.
Sophomore Eddie George, freshman Brian
Hart and senior Mitch Reckner all hit doubles in
the game. Reckner also hit a home run, along
with sophomore Shane Elzer.
Getting the win for Behrend was sophomore
Chris McCartney. He went for five innings and
gave up two hits, no runs and had six strikeouts.
McCartney was also named this week's Housing
and Food Service Athlete of the Week.
In the second game, the two teams engaged in
a much tighter contest, this time with Fredonia
prevailing 2-1.
With the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the
seventh, Fredonia scored one more run to pull
out the win.
The Lions had no extra base hits but had a sto
len base from junior Vinnie Canzano.
Behrend's loss went to senior Jason Shaffer.
He pitched 6.1 innings and gave up four hits and
two hits and had seven strikeouts. Pitcher Bran
don Miller got the win for Fredonia.
On the previous Saturday, the Lions hosted a
doubleheader against AMCC opponent Lake
Erie. Behrend was able to sweep both games, 5-
2 and 9-7.
In the first game, the two teams played a tight
first three innings. In the final innings, though.
both teams managed to get runs. Behrend ended
up pulling out the win by a 5-2 final score.
The highlight of the game was a home run by
a senior Tony Azzato.The win went to Hart, who
pitched a complete game, giving up four hits,
two runs and had 10 strikeouts.
In the second game, the two teams engaged in
a shootout. After three innings, Behrend was
ahead 5-4. The two teams were tied,7-7, though,
after five innings. The Lions scored two runs in
the bottom of the sixth to pull out the win.
Azzato, Elzer and Hart all had triples in the
game while Canzano hit a triple.
The winning pitcher for Behrend was sopho
more Ray DeVaul. He pitched for 2 1/3 innings
and gave up one hit, no runs and had two
strikeouts.
With their three wins in the past week the Li
ons improved to 13-9-1 overall, 4-4 in the
AMCC. Their conference record currently places
them in fourth place.
The Behrend squad will resume play today at
home against Thiel. On Saturday, it will host a
doubleheader against conference opponent Pitt-
Greensburg, who currently occupies the AMCC
cellar.
sports editor