The Behrend beacon. (Erie, Pa.) 1998-current, April 23, 2004, Image 10
Kevin Fiorenzo & Amy Frizzell, orts editors Softball team on verge of AMCC Tourney by Collin McHenry staff writer The softball team is on the verge of going to the AMCC Tournament. Right now there is a spot open for them or Penn State Altoona. Depending on who wins, Pitt-Bradford or Pitt- Greensburg on Monday will determine if they get in or not The team split doubleheaders against two teams recently, Allegheny and La Roche. Both times the team came back from a loss to win. They also were swept in a doubleheader at Frostburg on Sunday. In their first game against Allegheny last Thurs day, the Lady Lions were routed 9-0. Behrend was down 4-0 going into the seventh inning, but five runs from Allegheny in that inning put the game out of reach. In the second game, the Lady Lions played a much tighter contest and pulled out the win, 3-2. The Behrend squad got great production from several of its hitters. Senior Brandy Polinick hit a double in the game. Senior Lauren Packer and fresh man Kristen Macha each hit two singles. The winning pitcher for the Lady Lions was se nior Becky Corbin, who also hit a single in the game. Against Frostburg. the Lady Lions dropped their first game 11-9. Packer had two doubles in the game while Corbin and Polinick each had one. The loss in the game went to senior Steph Co vert, who pitched 1.2 innings and gave up 11 runs. In the second game. Behrend fell short once again, 5-2. Going into the bottom of the fifth, the Lady Li ons were tied with Frostburg 2-2, but Frostburg scored three runs in that inning to seal the win. The Behrend squad had no extra base hits in the game. The losing pitcher was sophomore pitcher Kim Raff. She pitched four innings, giving up seven hits and five runs. On Tuesday. La Roche won the first game on their home turf 10-2. The Lions came back and thwarted the Red Hawks 6-5 in the second game. In the first game, the losing pitcher was Corbin, who also hit a double in the game. In the second game, the Lady Lions were once again led by Pollinick with two singles and two rbi’s. The winning pitcher was Sandy Jaussi. "The first game we did not begin very strong. La Roche hit the ball very well in the first game and unfortunately, we were unable to stop them. The second game our ladies worked hard throughout the entire games and were able to put some runs on the board," head coach Stacy Pondo said. A late game pitching change to Steph Covert sealed the win for the Lions. “The girls played some tough games over the past week in which some good things came out of. The highlight of the season may have come when we split with La Roche. Going into the season one ol the teams goals was to win against La Roche,” said Pondo. The team only won half of their AMCC games. Holding a record of 6-6. They are however perking up and winning more games. Pondo said, “It feels good to finally be on the win ning side of the one run games considering we’ve had many losses by one. The ladies continue to work hard and try to win the tough battles.” i'i nnSjai l Housing & ~c Food Service Athlete of the Week SPORTS Men’s tennis captures AMCC Championship Defeats Frostburg by one point for first crown since 1998 ference record. They are also currently tied for the all-time wins in a single season record at 14 wins this season. by Amy Frizzell sports editor On Saturday the men’s tennis team won its first AMCC Championship title since 1998. In a close race, the Lions beat out Frostburg State by just one point, capturing the crown 11-10. The blue and white dominated the day as it sent a player to the finals of every flight, excluding sec ond singles. “I was very pleased with their play,” said coach Jeff Barger. “It’s tough to do that but they did it, and it paid off.” The first sign of promise came as the Lions ad vanced all three doubles teams past the first round of play. First doubles team of junior Ryan Deimel and sophomore John Marini defeated Penn State Altoona, 8-4. No. 1 seeded freshman Brian Espin and sopho more Jon Barber downed Pitt-Greensburg 8-2 at second doubles as third doubles No. 1 seeded fresh men Garrette Grenek and Matt Meyer struggled to” beat Pitt-Greensburg 8-6. Though the semi-finals proved to be a step to ward capturing the crown, the men suffered a set Baseball team clings to AMCC playoff hopes by C J. lanini staff writer On Tuesday the Penn State Behrend base ball team (14-13-1, 4-6) traveled to Allegh eny (18-9) for a non conference doubleheader. The Lions split with Allegheny, with Allegh eny winning game one 1 -0, and Behrend pick ing up the win in game two, 12-8. In game one, the Lions were unable to drive in any runs, only two of nine players who stepped to the plate provided hits for the team. The only three hits of the game for Behrend came from sophomores Shane Elzer and Eddie George. Elzer provided two hits for Behrend, with George providing one. Although receiving the loss for the game, sophomore pitcher Ray DeVaul pitched all six innings for Behrend. DeVaul gave up six hits but only one earned run for the team. The Lions, down but not out, looked like a new team in game two against Allegheny. Seven players provided 11 hits for Behrend, helping the team drive in 12 runs, capturing the win. Three seniors contributed to the win in game two. Adam Best and Tony Azzato both went two for five from the plate with Best scoring a run and Azzato hitting a double. Mitch Reckner bat ting as DH went one for three and scored two runs. Junior shortstop Vince Canzano supplied the team with a double and two runs. Canzano was two for three from the plate with two stolen bases in game two Sophomore Tony Kordecki also provided two runs for Behrend as he went two for four from the plate on the day. The only home run of the game came from Elzer. Elzer, only a sophomore, leads the Lions this season in batting average. In 29 games played, Elzer has racked up a .333 batting average and is currently leading the team in six other batting categories. Ryan Deimel Friday, April 23, 2004 they had.” The Lions made up for doubles as they sent five out of six players to the finals of their flights. During the semi-finals Deimel defeated Jared Ferrar of Altoona 6-0,6-4 at first singles. Barber downed Tim Lang of Pitt-Greensburg at third singles 6-1, 6-1. Espin followed him at fourth, beating Chris Baker of Altoona in three sets 3-6,6-3,6-0. Sopho more Kevin Fiorenzo defeated Joe Germock Pitt- Greensburg 6-3,6-4, and Meyer beat Chris Streett of Pitt-Greensburg 6-0,6-1. The finals would once again pose a challenge for the team. Fiorenzo would be the first to experi ence yet another setback as he lost to Mike Stefan of Altoona 7-6,6-2. Following him would be Espin, falling to Dustin Robinson of Frostburg 6-4,6-2. Meyer, who entered the tournament with a per fect 6-0 AMCC singles record, would be the first to take a firstplace finish defeating Pat Cooper of Altoona in three sets, 6-2,5-7,6-4. “For $ jjreabsitfn hfc ; played extremely well and he was there when we needed him,” said Bar ber of Meyer’s contributions to the team. Soon after Barber, who also entered with a per fect singles record would defeat Peter Della Luna The baseball team will play host to the Laßoche Red Hawks on Saturday in a key AMCC game that will have playoff implications for the Lions. Junior Matt Szymanski and sophomore pitcher Chris McCartney picked up the win for the Lions on the mound. Although only a sophomore, McCartney has been playing as if he were an up perclassman. Currently this year Chris has a win ning record of 5-2 and an ERA of 2.70. With the win, Behrend increased its record to 15-14-1 overall, 4-6 in AMCC Conference play. As of Thursday, Behrend was ranked fourth in the highly competitive AMCC. “We are definitely still a major contender to reach the AMCC playoffs,” said Azzato. The Lions next traveled to Westminster for a non conference game on Wednesday. Behrend fell short, though by a 7-2 score. The losing pitcher for the Lions was senior Jason back as all three teams lost in the finals. Deimel and Marini lost to Frostburg in a tie-breaker, losing 9-8. Espin and Barber followed the same pattern, also losing to Frostburg in a tie-breaker, 9-8. Meyer and Grenek lost to Altoona 8-2. “We were mad but not sad,” said Marini of the team’s three finals losses. “We knew we could still win so we were glad.” The team would have to pick up play in singles to make up for doubles. “They were just going to have to play harder at singles,” said Barger. “There was no tomorrow for them, they had to give it all Sport: Men's Te Class: Junioi Date: April 19,2 During the onships held Behrend this Deimel took first p' the first singles fli clinch a Behrend vi the tournament. of Frostburg 6-2,6-3, bringing in another first place finish. “I’m very happy I played well and won. I’m glad I could help out the team,” said Barber. “It’s great to go out on top.” “Their wins were big we wouldn’t have done it without them,” said Deimel. With one match left to finish the Lions trailed Frostburg by one point. Deimel would have to fight back from a 5-2 defecit after losing the first set 7-5, in order to earn a first place finish and the team to capture the title. “I was so nervous. They were both playing so well,” said Barber. Deimel faught back from three match points to win the second set in a tie-breaker 7-6 sending the match into a third set. “All I could think was that I wanted Ryan to win,” said Marini, Deimel’s doubles partner. He stepped up winning the third set 6-2, defeat ing Justin Stephens of Frostburg, an opponent who had beat him three times previously. “I always knew I could beat him, and to beat him at a moment like that was crazy,” said Deimel. “I couldn’t have done it without the support of the team.” The team walked away with its first title since the first year the tournament was held. “I was nervous for them. I’ve already experi enced tough loses and wins, these guys haven’t,” said Barger. “I really wanted them to win.” Not only did the team walk away with the title, they also walked away with a few honors. Barber, Meyer and Deimel were all named to the first team all-conference for singles. Espin and Fiorenzo were named to second team all-conference for singles. Deimel and Marini, Epsin and Barber, and Meyer and Grenek were all named to the second team all conference for doubles. Meyer was also named co-newcomer of the year along with Dustin Robinson of Frostburg. Deimel was named co-player of the year along with Gary Lyst from Frostburg. Barger was also named coach of the year. The Lions will next look to up their record of 14- 7 to 15-7 in order to break the all-time wins in a single season record when they play Walsh on May 1. Shaffer, who pitched for 5.1 innings, gave up five hits and six runs and had four strikeouts. Behrend will play today at 3 p.m. against the Hilbert Hawks. The Lions true test will come on Saturday in their final AMCC double header. Behrend will host La Roche, and with each team in the conference only a few games apart, the Li ons will need to win both games to have a chance for a possible playoff berth. The other scenario for Behrend to reach the playoffs will solely ride on Frostburg State, who currently occupies the sixth spot in the AMCC. Frostburg has two double header conference games remaining and need to lose two of these last four games for Behrend to reach the play offs. Page The Behrend Beacon irst set iif ind falling ie second ed to win 1 then the iel, along in Marini, up spot in es flight. 4 overall ell as 4-1 ir the AMCC