©BEACON SPORTS Softball earns first win at home Bchrend’s softball team landed its first victory at home Tuesday against Pitt-Bradford, 4-3. They split the double header, losing the first game 6-2. The win was Behrend’s sixth of the season and their 20th loss. Sophomore Kristin Macha, AMCC Softball Player of the Week, posted 3 hits on 4 at bats and drove home the only 2 runs scored in game one. In the second half of the double-header, she crossed the plate twice, con tributing to half of the winning runs. Macha. a left-fielder, has had 40 hits from 84 at-bats for the season so far. She has also racked up 20 RBIs. “[ Kristin’s 1 been on a hitting streak," said Head Coach Stacy Pondo. “Our hitting has really come through in clutch situations.” “Lauren came through in a pressure situation with bases loaded, two outs and hit a gap shot to right-center field to give us the go ahead run in the bottom of the seventh inning,” said Pondo. Freshman Lauren Lubic had 3 hits on 3 at-bats, drove in 2 runs and crossed the plate once during the second Pitt Bradford game. In the same game, freshman Annie Kozel went 1 for 3 and drove in 2 of the winning runs. Pondo was very impressed with the effort put forth by her team saying, “I’m very proud of the team and how they have been playing, they’ve stepped up their play another notch and are aiming to make the AMCC play offs." Currently, Behrend sits in the sixth seed (6-6 Conference record) in the AMCC with only 8 games left in the season. They will be playing double-headers against Penn State Altoona (fifth seed), April 23, Hilbert (sev enth seed) on April 24 and Lake Erie (ninth seed), April 27. The top six seeds at the end of regular season will be contenders in the AMCC finals. Men’s tennis takes second in AMCC By Mike Tomko staff writer Last Sunday, the Behrend tennis team traveled to Pitt-Greensburg to compete in the 2005 AMCC Conference Tournament held at the Oxford Athletic Club in Wexford. The blue and white finished with nine total points, good enough for second behind Penn State Altoona who had ten. Frostburg State fin ished third with seven points and Pitt-Greensburg fin ished in last with zero points. In number one singles, freshman Miles Boyea lost to Jared Feerrar of Penn State Altoona in straight sets 3-6, 2-6. Gary Lyst of Frostburg State came out of the bracket in first beating Jareed Feerrar. Sophomore Brian Espin took first place in the sec ond singles field, beating Rob Pulcini of Pitt- Greensburg in straight sets 6-1, 6-2. Then Espin beat Alex Chang of Penn State Altoona in three sets 6-4, 4- 6 and 6-2. Freshman Todd Guarnieri lost his first round match 2-6, 1-6, to Matt Chisholm of Frostburg State, who went on to win get first in the bracket by beating Mike Stefan from Penn State Altoona. In fourth singles, sophomore Matt Meyer won his first match against Payton Mullin in straight sets 6-0, 6 1. Meyer fell in the finals to Pat Cooper of Penn State Altoona in three sets 6-3, 0-6, and 5-7. Freshman James Myers came out victorious in the fifth singles bracket winning both of his matches. Myers won his first match against Matt Duermeyer in straight sets 6-0, 6-1. Myers won his second match By Annie Sevin staff writer against Chris Schoenbaur of Frostburg State in straight sets 6-0, 6-1. In sixth singles freshman Trevor Dougherty won his opening match over Matt Stephens in straight sets 6- 3, 6-2. Doughetry fell in his second match to Andy Brunhuber of Penn State Altoona in two hard fought sets 5-7, 2-6. In number one doubles, the team of Boyea and Guarnieri won their opening match over Adam Dearborn and Duermeyer of Pitt-Greensburg 8-1, but the pair fell in their final match by the score of 8-6. In number two doubles the team of Espin and Meyer won their opening match 8-1, but fell in the finals to Cooper and Change of Penn State Altoona 3-8. In third doubles, the Lions had the some result. The pair of Myers and Dougherty won their opening match 8-4, but failed to win the final match, instead losing to Brunhuber and Dolansky of Penn State O Altoona 3-8. Junior Lindsay Stankus is second on the team in batting average at .324. She is second in The Lions season has come to an end and despite Behind softball history for put outs over a career with 575. the second place finish in the AMCC tournament, the team still had a successful season. The Lions finished _ with a winning record overall and 5-1 in conference HOUSING AND FOOD SERVICES play. The Lions have most of this year s team coming back and are optimistic that they can be successful. “We are only going to lose two guys for next year and we got a couple new guys coming in next fall and the experience some of the other guys should be great. I’m looking forward to it; we should have a strong team for the next 3 or 4 years,” said Head Coach Jeff Barger. Baseball fights for two spot in AMCC By Sara Kamber co-sports editor After this week’s play, the baseball team is still locked up in the fight for second place in the AMCC. Pitt- Bradford and Behrend are both 10-4 in the league, splitting their games earlier this week at Bradford. Bradford took the first game behind the offensive combination of Justin Schoening and Dom Morielli, who both homered in the bottom of the first inning to make the score 3-1. Sophomore Rob Gargasz hit a two run double in the fifth, but it wasn’t enough to lift Lions in their 8-4 loss. Senior pitcher Jason Shaffer was cred ited with the loss. Junior Chris McCartney started in game two working S and 1/3 innings with S hits, 3 runs and 1 walk, striking out 3. Sophomore Brian Hart came in to close the game, picking up the save. In a press release on Pitt-Bradford’s website, Head Coach Bret Butler was quoted as saying “getting a split at home is like kissing your sister. We almost pulled it off but a few things didn’t go our way.” Sophomore Mike Stetz continues to swing a hot bat in the lead off position, going 3 for 3 in game two. He was Mike Stetz Sophomore Baseball/2B Johnstown/Bishop McCourt named AMCC player of the week after batting .592 last week. “Stetz has been unconscious at the plate,” said Assistant Coach lyier Wiand. “When he doesn’t bang a base hit up the middle, he bleeds one in some where else. He has also been playing very solid defense and his hit ting is contagious.” Gargasz had 5 RBIs for the day, starting game two in left field. He led the team offensively in the 4-3 win. “We’re always looking for different people to come in and get stuff done for the team,” said Head Coach Paul Benim. “(Gargasz) was that spark for us and has been a valuable asset.” In a shortened, 8-inning outing on Wednesday against Grove City, the blue and white were back at it. Senior Vince Canzano, junior Tony Kordecki, Stetz and Gargasz all had three hits for the Lions. Kordecki and Gargasz earned 3 and 4 RBIs, respectively. The team recorded 6 doubles in the game, taking the victory 10-5. “Everyone has been spanking the ball,” said Wiand. “We’re on a roll now. We’ve won 14 of our last 15 and are looking forward to post season play. The depth of our pitching staff should make our presence well known in the nlavoffs.” The Behrend Beacon I 10 Friday, April 22, 2005 Pi \NS i All ’ f K* Athlete of the Week ... Batting .592 for the week, Stetz led the Behrend Lions to a 7-0 week. He hit three doubles, collected 7 RBIs and scored 12 runs. Stetz was also a perfect 7 for 7 in stolen base attempts. Behrend is win streak. “Stetz Wplla aftfe3oskt table-setter header. Housing and Food Service Athlete of the Week is selected by the Sports Information Staff. The team will head to Penn State Altoona on Saturday and Lake Erie on Wednesday to close out regular season conference play. The blue and white need these last four wins to secure the second spot in the AMCC. The top two teams in the league receive a first round by while the third team earns first-round hosting rights. Penn State Altoona is 7-9 in the conference, 13-17 overall, rounding out the six spot. Lake Erie is 2-12 and 6-27. “All league games are important and Saturday is no different,” said Benim. “We’ve got to come out and play like we can. They’re fighting for a spot in the tournament and we’re fighting for seeding.” As of Tuesday’s AMCC statistics, which do not include the Bradford games, Behrend leads the league in team pitching with an ERA of 2.20 and is second in team batting averaging at .330. Shaffer is second in pitching earning an ERA of 1.71 with 3 wins and 2 losses. Canzano is first in hits with 37 and Kordecki’s three triples this season put him in the one spot. Junior Greg Samson is a perfect 16 for 16 in stolen bases, also a league best. Behrend’s next home game is a dou ble-header Sunday at 1 p.m. against Oberlin.
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