Friday, February 13, 2009
Baseball team looks to have another
On a bulletin board in Penn
State Behrend Baseball coach
Paul Benim's office hangs a snip
pet from the Baseball Coaching
Bible. "Being successful is a
grind, - it reads. "it ck)es not just
happen.-
It is with that mentality that
the seventeenth-year head coach
dove into preparing his varsity
baseball team. fresh off a 2008
season in which the record-setting
team posted a 34-12 record and
won both the AMCC regular sea
son and conference tournament
title.
Benim, though. had little to
say about the team riding the
wave of success from last year. "It
was a great year. of course, - he
said, "and there are still good feel
ings and a good vibe from last
year. But, it is last year. We're 0-
0 now: we have to go out and get
after it."
This year's team, while still
having to (ice many challenges as
the season begins, will have the
benefit of a large amount of
returning players from last year's
championship team. The entire
pitching staff of last year's team
Wednesda\ night. in West
Lafayette, Indiana, against the
#2O AP ranked Purdue
Boilermakers 8-6. 7-40. the
Nittany Lions Men's basketball
team (17-8. 6-6 i had the opportu
nity to halt a two game losing
streak, as well its show the col
lege basketball world that the\
1 - IEnMIMiI
SPORTS SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13
The swim team competes in the AMCC Championships (a Grove
City at 10 a.m.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14
The swim team continues the AMCC Championships (a Grove City
The Men's and Women's Ind)or Track & Field travels to Comell and
The Women's Basketball team (11-10) plays an AMCC game at
Franciscan (4-14) at 1 p.m.
The Men's Basketball team (15-7) also plays at Franciscan (4-17)
following the womens game at 3 p.m.
The Men's Tennis team starts otT their 2009 season at Baldwin-
Wallace at 1 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18
The Women's and Men's Basketball team play a double-header
against AMCC opponent. La Roche. The women's game starts at 6
p.m. followed by the men's at 8 p.m.
.411
LAST WEEK'S
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7
W. Basketball: Behrend 82 Penn State Altoona 72
M. Basketball: Behrend 77 Penn State Altoona 60
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11
W. Basketball: Behrend 57 Medaille 60
M. Basketball: Behrend 62 Medaille 65
All scores based from Sports Calendar and individual team page results. II your sport
is not listed and you feel that it should be contact cisso6o(a psu.edu
will return, as well as many other
players on the roster.
Benim, three times recognized
as the AMCC coach of the year.
realizes the value that those play
ers will bring to the roster.
"They've been through a lot, - he
says. "These guys have been
influencing the program since
their first years. It's really a luxu
ry having them.-
Though the team will not be
lacking in leadership from the
mound, the team will feel the
loss of severalref last year's lead
ers, primarily at the catcher posi
tion. Three seniors graduated and
left their spot open behind the
plate; it may prove to he
Behrends first significant chal
lenge to fill that hole.
Sophomore Henry Latta and
freshmen Jimmy Battaglia and
Ryan Geibel could provide the
team with the presence they need.
"They're primed and ready to go, -
says Benim, "everyone's ready to
meet these challenges."
In thing so, the Lions will cer
tainly utilize four players who
were recognized by Collegiate
Baseball Magazine as "Players to
University
de , ,erve to he ranked among the
top 25 teams in the country.
Purdue also entered the night's
contest with a two game losing
streak. which can he largely con
trihoted to the absence of team
co-captain. Robbie Hummel.
who sat out his third game in a
ro\\ with a hairline fracture in his
at 10 a.m
competes at 10 a.m
SPORTS
All wins in italic text
SPORTS
Watch - in Division 111.
Seniors David Koerbel and Ben
Cain, in addition to juniors Josh
Fyffe and Dustin Dubensky. were
also selected to the list.
Koerbel. last year's AMCC
MVP, and Cain, who boasted a 5-
0 record and 0.76 ERA last sea
son, will lead the team from the
mound.
Fyffe and Dubensky, playing
shortstop and third base respec
tively, could provide the back
bone of the team's offensive
efforts. Last year. the two com
bined for 71 RBIs: Dubensk i's
Own 46 was the highest on the
team and second highest in the
league.
As nice as it is to locus on the
past, you need to put the future in
front of you says Cain. For
him. it may , he difficult: he limit
ed opponents to a .190 batting
average. "Now everyone knows
what I have. Bei - ) one knows
what the team can 4). People are
gunning for you...
For coach Benim. the quote on
his wall is what will inspire him
to get his team working hard to
prepare for the season. It contin-
Park basketball 17-8 overall
lower hack
Ha \ In i 2.
Boilermakers earlier in the year
67-64, Penn State could not have
foresaw the 61-47 thumping the
would take.
The first half featured a terrific
display of basketball between two
ruthless teams.
The Boilermakers and Nitta\
Lions alike played strong defense
and consistently tratkd hard to
come by baskets.
Led by Senior Forward.
Jamelle Cornley, Penn State
jumped out to its largest lead of
the night. 22-16. with 6147 left
to play before the half.
Comley scored a game high 16
points. while no other Nittam,
Lion reached Llouble digit scoring.
Undeten - ed. Purdue. led
Edwin Johnson. who dominated
the game by scoring a Purckie
high 14 points and recording
game highs 13 rebounds find 4
blocked shots, slowly but surely
chipped away at Penn State's
defense and smothered their
Adam Kaiser awarded AMCC
Penn State Behrend junior
guard for the men's basketball
team. Adam Kaiser, was awarded
the AMCC Athlete of the week
for the week of Feb. 9, 2009.
"It Was very nice to receive the
award," said Kaiser. "I was happy
to receive it. It means a lot."
Kaiser helped the Behrend
Lions to their seventh straight
win as he contributed 15 points
in the victory against Penn State
Altoona 77-60 on Saturday. Feb.
7.
Last week, Kaiser and the
Lions defeated Hilbert, another
AMCC opponent. Kaiser and
Tom Newman had a game high of
21 points.
On Wednesday Kaiser had a
game high of 17 points against
Medallic; however. the Behrend
Lions lost by a close three points
62-65.
According to the Behrend web-
site. Kaiser is averaging a league
best 3.3 three-pointers per game
By Connor Sintely
111(111(011i,'
,i,••,I1()11 ,
ues: - 98 percent olsucces, k hard
\\ ork. Lloing \\ hat one eino\ ••,. and
self-dkcipline. Luck and inheri
tance arc pan td the other 2 per
cent.-
For his players. the inheritance
of last ChalllplollNhip \\ill
soon he set aside fon a team \\ ith
sights set high in 2009.
By Sha‘sn Annarelli
Colltriblif big
mas I 59 , “ edu
offense to mount a 2S-26 lead at
the halt - s end.
In the earl) goings of the sec
ond half it \t, as pailifulk clear
Purdue \\a, plit)ing to make a
statement. and the Lien, were not
as neark as tenacious as the .
\ else in the first half.
The Boilermakers and Lions
traded Point baskets in the
lirst minute of tile second half
before the Boilermakers went on a
16-0 run, lea\ lug the Lions score
less 16r over 6 minutes.
With a 17 point lead and 12:49
remaining Purdue had all but put
a\\ a' the Lions
For the remainder of the game.
Penn State displayed resilience by
outscoring Purdue 19-15. The
teams also came to a deadlock for
almost tOur minutes \k hen neither
team recorded a basket. giving
credence to the high le‘ el of
&lase played h . N . , each team for
most of the contest.
The key component of the
Boilermakers game-plan revolved
around shutting Clown Lions
Player of the Week
with 42.6(4 accuracy. and is tied
for the team lead in scoring with
a 13.8 points per game average.
have just been shooting the
ball with a lot of confidence and
my team really has faith in my
shooting, - said Kaiser.
As a team, the Behrend Lions
are ranked nationally at the
Division 11l level.
According to the Behrend web
site. they are ranked lOurth in the
nation in scoring defense limiting
their opponents to 58.7 ppg. The
Blue and White are also ranked
ninth in free-thro percentage at
77.4 percent.
The men's basketball team has
three games lett in the regular
season. They travel to Franciscan
and La Roche betiwe ending the
season at the Junker Center
against Pitt-Bradibrd on Feb. 21.
"We have to win the rest of the
games which is going to he hard
‘‘ (wk. but something that I think
we can do. - said Kaiser.
successful season
on the mound. R i ght Cluobak lets go of the pitch
1.0: Cain
,i;TIS
guard Talor Battle. vv ho scorched
the Railer makers tbr 21 points
earlier in the seas m and leads the
Big 'Fen with over 18 points per
Purdue Guard, Lewis Jackson,
illittched up against Battle l'or
most of the ttame and completely
manic Battle a non-factor.
Battle, \\ hile amassing a game
high 6 assists. did nut record a
sintile basket off of seven
attempted shot
According to comcast . net ,
Jackson said of Battle "He's
shift\ with the hall. I'm just fast
enough that I can stay with him.
just tried to move my feet good.
I has e a little hit of upper-hod\
strength on him, so I used that to
my advantage...
The Boilermakers also held
Penn State's other high scoring
Guard. Stanley Pringle, to just
t\%o baskets tOr I - Re points.
According to ESPN.com, Penn
State coach Ed DeChillis
explained. "Our guard play is real
ly important to us, as with any
By Christine Newby
.sport.s eriit(»
cell: )56(a p.u.edu
I(kun Kaiser was . chosen a the A MCC Piave, - of the Week
The Behrend Beacon I 7
team. We're not getting produc
tion out of the two guys, (Battle
and Pringle), that have been pret
ty good for us all year.-
The Purdue bench also made a
considerably large contribution to
the Boilermakers winning effort.
Back-ups Bobby Riddell and
Nemanja Calasan scored 13 and
12 points respectively and com
bined to make a brilliant 9 of 13
shots from the field, including
shooting an impressive joint 4 of
6 from three point range.
The Lions have six games
remaining on their schedule, two
of which are against the #2O AP
ranked Illinois.
For their next game, Penn
State will play host to the
Minnesota Gophers who they
lost to 79-59 in their first con
test. in Minnesota.
The Lions \vill look to propel
themselves into a 4th place tie in
the Big Ten while putting an end
to their longest losing streak of
the season.