The Behrend beacon. (Erie, Pa.) 1998-current, April 15, 2005, Image 10
BEACON SPORTS Strong 10 straight wins, 9-0 at home By Sara Kamber co-sports editor The baseball team has won its last 10 straight and are 9-0 at home. Playing nine games over the last five days, the blue and white improved their record to 16-10, 7-3 in the conference. Behrend is now third in the conference after beating Pitt- Greensburg, Hilbert and Medaille all in the last week. “The league is ultra competitive,” said Head Coach Paul Benim. “We must be successful on our home field and our wins this week have been enormous for us. The league is why our guys work so hard and are so committed to each other. We expect to do well and put ourselves in a posi tion to compete beyond the AMCC.” Over 14 innings on Wednesday, Behrend pitch ers fanned 14 with no walks and no runs in two complete game shutouts against Medaille College. Senior Jason Shaffer took the hill for game one in his second shutout game of the week. He con trolled Medaille’s offense, holding them to only 2 hits while striking out 8. Behrend followed up with solid at bats, feeding off contributions from pretty much every hitter in the lineup. Junior Shane Elzer led the team with 2 hits, 2 runs and 3 RBIs. The Lions won 11-0. Junior Chris McCartney pitched in game two allowing three hits, with 5 K’s, no runs and no walks. At the plate, sophomore Mike Stetz was 4 for 4, scoring twice with 1 RBI and three stolen bases. Senior Vince Canzano was 3 for 4, all singles, with one stolen base. ‘ We had outstanding pitching performances by Jason and Chris,” said Benim. “Stetz was 4 for 4 and made things happen.” Tuesday’s match up had Behrend facing off against Westminster in a single game. Senior Matt Szymanski started on the mound for the blue and white, pitching seven innings. He struck out 5, walked 5 and allowed 7 hits. Junior Greg Samson took over for Szymanski and was tagged with the save in Behrend’s 9-7 win. Hilbert rolled onto the field as Monday’s oppo- HOUSING AND FOOD SERVICES e of the Week ... Jason Shaffer Senior Baseball /Pitcher McKees Rocks / Montour Ar CATCHYOt iS ’ CHANCE ?) B E PORE I jAjt U PLIES AWAY!® » sCSTOP BY AND SIGN A LEASE WITH (&") TODAY!! V'' Jfey. R ATES STARTING AT $299, <&£> T ALL UTILITIES INCLUDED / W* /*\ 03 9 MONTH LEASES, \£f GRADUATE HOUSING & MATCHIIJk~ I AVAILABLE jggf mgrioian *MKmICAm»AMW» pitching leads baseball to nent in another conference double-head er. Everybody had a good day at the plate for the blue and white with the team as a whole working for 16 hits, 13 RBIs and 14 runs. Pitching for the Lions was jun ior Ray DeVaul. DeVaul gave up 5 runs, 11 hits, walked 2 and struck out 7, pitch ing a complete game. Sophomore Brian Binder took the mound for game two against Hilbert. He also pitched a complete game, with no walks, no runs on two hits and fanned 8. “Binder was dynamite in game two,” said Benim. “It was great stuff for our guys.” Stetz scored twice in game two, with 1 hit and 3 RBIs. Samson also scored twice and earned 2 RBIs. Sophomore Gabe Stephenson hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth. Behrend took both wins easily over Hilbert, 14-5 and 10-1. “Stetz has been a great tabic setter, as has Samson at the bottom of the linc-up,” said Benim. “Right now wc arc really clicking and everyone is contributing. That is the best thing about being a coach, when everyone is contributing to the pro gram’s success. Lots of different guys arc stepping up.” Sunday welcomed Case Western lor another double-header. Sophomore Eric Nachriener pitched in game one, going a little more than 5 innings, striking out 3, walking one and giving up 2 runs. McCartney took over earn ing the save in Behrend’s 5-2 victory. Freshman Shane Scott started in game two, pitching for four innings with 2 strike outs before sophomore Brian Hart took over. Hart came in and pitched four innings of scoreless relief. With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth and two outs on the board, Eddie George kept the Lions alive with a pinch-hit single. Szymanski came in to pinch-run for George. Next up was Elzer. He tripled Szymanski home, win ning the game for the blue and white. Underclassmen saw a lot of action in the games against Case Western. Freshman Cody Thull had irst home game of the sea affer dominated on the igainst conference foe Pitt- against Mt. Aloysius at home on Friday for a 1 p.m. double-header. Housing and Food Service Athlete of the Week is selected by the Sports Information Staff 2 {Qj Men's tennis wins three conference matches Over the weekend, the Men’s tennis team won all three conference matches to improve their conference record to 5-1 and improve their overall record to 11-8. Since the Lions won all three conference matches, the team moved into a tie with Penn State Altoona for the best record in the conference. :e-hitter walks, game “It was a tough weekend to play three matches one right after the other,” said Head Coach Jeff Barger. On Friday the team traveled to Pitt- Greensburg and won 9-0. The Lions won two matches, third doubles and sixth singles by forfeit. In number one doubles Freshman Miles Boyea and Freshman Todd Guarnieri won their match by the score of 8-0. Sophomore Brian Espin and Sophomore Matt Meyer won their doubles match 8-1. In singles matches, Freshman James Myers won his match in straight sets 6- 2, 6-2. Freshman Steve Rohm won his match in straight sets 6-1, 6-0. Also winning for the Lions was Freshman Brian Kaleta 7-6, 6-1, Freshman Daryl Nowacki 6-4, 7-5 and Senior Jeremiah Women’s track wins with warm weather Saturday the Women’s Track team competed at Mt. Union and which resulted in some outstanding accomplishments. With warmer weather on their side, the Lady Lions broke four records. “We had a great weekend. The weather finally allowed the athletes to perform to their abilities,” said Coach Cooper. Junior Staci Banaszek won two of events, shattered two records and also qualified for ECAC’s in all of them. By almost a foot, Banaszek broke the triple jump record. Jumping 36’8” she is the first Behrend Woman to eclipse the 36 foot mark outdoors. Banaszek also leapt 17’ 1” in the long jump, clearing the old record. This 17 foot jump was also the first one ever in Behrend history. Banaszek also finished second in the high jump. Her contributions to the team this meet were indispensable. Banaszek was not the only one to break records. Freshman Leisl Soergel finished second and broke the 800- meter record with a 2:22.8 time. Soergel teamed up with junior Nikki Mineweaser and freshmen Erica Smith and Becky Gonzalez to compete in the 4 x 400 relay. These ladies placed third with the time of 4:10.00 and broke the Behrend record. As well as qualifying for ECAC’s, the Sophomore Mike Stetz leads the team in batting average at .361. For the season, he has 15 RBl’s, 26 hits and 16 runs over 72 at bats. two runs and two hits over three at bats in game one with Brent Sullivan earning an RBI and hit in game two. Bchrcnd defeated Case Western 5-2 and 4-3. “Our staff is pleased with the young guys,” said Benim. “We have several talented younger play ers and we are getting contributions from a lot of different people.” Last Friday, Behrend opened the home season with two conference wins over Pitt-Greensburg, 5-0 in game one and 3-2 in game two. In game one, Shaffer dominated on the mound. He threw a three-hitter, striking out one and walk ing four in a complete game, shutting out Pitt- Greensburg’s offense. "Jason was outstanding,” said Benim. “He threw strikes, kept hitters off balance and shut-out By Mike Tomko staff writer By Stephen Wingerter staff writer Gutherie 6-0, 6-0 On Saturday, the Lions visited Frostburg State and left with a victory by the score of 6-3. The pairing of Boyea and Guarnieri lost their match 8-4. The Lions took their next two doubles matches behind strong play from the teaming of Espin and Meyer, as well as the pairing of Myers and Freshman Trevor Dougherty. In singles action the Lions took four of the six matches. Winning for the Lions were Espin in straight sets 6-2, 6-3, Meyer 6-1, 6-1, Myers 6-2, 6-1 and Dougherty 6-4, 6-2. On Sunday the Lions defeated Penn State Altoona 5-4. With the win, the Lion moved into a tie at 5-1 with PS Altoona. The Lions lost all three dou bles matches on Sunday. Boyea Guarnieri lost 9-7, Espin and Meyer lost 8-4 and Myers and Kaleta fell by the score of 8-3. Despite being down in doubles play the team came roaring back to take five of six singles matches and capture the victory. Boyea won in three sets 0- 6, 6-1, 6-3. Espin won in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. Guarnieri, Meyer and Myers also won their matches each in straight same four women also had a Behrend All Time Top Ten per formance in the 4 x 100 relay. Smith finished second and lowered her 400 IM hurdle record to 68.15. She only needs to drop one second to qual ify for ECAC’s. Freshman Natalie Romano recorded the second fastest 100-hurdle time in Behrend history, finishing seventh in 17.14. She is the third Behrend hurdler to the old record set by Mineweaser in 2003. “Over the past four months, the team has grown together like a tight-knit group of friends. I think our camaraderie will be one of our greatest strengths in upcoming competi tions,” said Soergel. Soergel couldn’t have been more right because the team has now come together and are proving themselves by drop ping times and qualifying for ECAC’s nonstop. Freshman Samantha Baldensperger has also been facing the difficulties of the weather. At Mt. Union she was able to toss the javelin 86’7,” finishing in eighth place “I threw javelin for three years in high school. The biggest difficulty has been the weather for the meets. It has been cold and rainy for the first two but with the weather improving I hope to be as well,” said Baldensperger. This Saturday the women gear up for the Slippery Rock Invitational beginning at 9 a.m. The Behrend Beacon I 10 Friday, April 15, 2005 a solid offensive club. We needed him Friday and he was dynamite." During game two, Behrend was down 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh. Leading off for the blue and white was Canzano. Canzano came up big with a double. Next up was Samson who got on with an error at second. Junior Tony Kordecki was then walked. With the bases loaded and Behrend trailing one, Stephenson’s sacrifice fly tied the game and advanced Samson from second to third. Then Stetz’s deep sacrifice fly gave Behrend the win. More conference action heads this way on Saturday against Mt. Aloysius. The game will be broadcast on Image Sports. The blue and white will then hit the road for four straight dates. sets. The Lions fall in singles play was Kaleta 7-5, 3-6, 1-6. “I think my two sophomore kids, Brian Espin and Matt Meyer, both made some comments toward the team about picking up their games and stuff,” said Barger, “Both of them played real well in singles this past weekend.” With only the AMCC tournament on April 17 and a match versus Thiel on April 19, the Lion season is coming to a close. The Lions have the momentum to win the conference tournament. “We should have like three number one seeds in singles. Our four, five, and six guys should all be seeded because they’re undefeated in the con ference,” said Barger. Even without an AMCC title, this team had a successful season. “I would definitely at this point (call the season a success); we could end up with 12 wins with a lot of yoilng guys, with basically an inexperienced team, especially the last few weeks '.yre’ve been playing better in singles,” said Coach Barger.