Friday, April 10, 2009 Babish The Lady Lions softball team had a close call this past week end against AMCC opponent Penn State Altoona, but a sixth inning rally in the second game of the doubleheader led by sen ior Allison Babish put the Lions ahead as they defeated Altoona in both games. "Because we were the AMCC champs last year, everyone is out to get up," said head coach Stacy Pondo. "We need to step up a notch for each game we play." The Behrend Lions won their Lindsay Baughman fires the ball to second to catch a runner. Athlete Spotlight: Katie Whitby comes up big in doubleheader sweep first game 3-1 and the ensuing match 5-4. The victories extended their record in the AMCC to an undefeated 7-0. "In the first game, we did not play to our fullest potential; however, we still stayed in the game and fought back and never gave up," said Pondo. Senior Laura Frischkorn took the mound for the first game and recorded four strike outs, five hits against her while giving up one earned run, and walked only one batter as she earned a win. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO SPORTS Senior pitcher Julie Koman then came in to relieve Frischkorn and picked up a save as she took over the game in the top of the seventh and struck out two batters. Penn State Altoona was the first to put runs on the score board when the leadoff hitter doubled and advanced to third on a bunt. Scoring on a wild pitch, she put Penn State Altoona up 1-0. Athlete of the Week Katie Whitby, one of the team's sen iors, was the first to score for Behrend. She walked to lead off the bottom of the first and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Freshman Ashley Gruber's sacrifice fly scored Whitby and tied the game at one apiece. Neither team scored again until the bottom of the fifth when Babish stepped up by hit ting a double which drove in Whitby. Babish's RBI gave the Behrend Lions the lead 2-1. The Blue and White added another run in the bottom of the sixth when senior Lindsay Baughman doubled in senior Rachelle Lawrence. Lawrence had a productive day at the plate as she led the Behrend Lions going two-for three in the first game. The final score was 3-1 in favor of Behrend. In the second game, the Behrend Lions found them selves making errors which led to Penn State Altoona having a 4-0 lead in the top of the third. "Our defense did not play well," said Pondo. "We had a lot of errors, that were not typ ical of the team, but we worked through the errors." Koman came into the game in the fourth and stopped This week's ENTERPRISE RENT-A-CAR Athlete of the Week is Behrend softball play er Katie Whitby. Whitby, a senior biology major, had an outstanding week for the Blue and White. The Lions went (6-0) this past week, and in that stretch, Whitby was an impressive 10- 19 from the plate and tallied four RBI. Behrend would take on Pitt- Bradford first in the week; and Whitby made a spectacular showing. She was 3-4 from the plate and would continue her great play against the team's following opponents. Against Hiram, Whitby was 2-4 and collected two RBI in a 6-0 win for the Blue and White. In the second game of a dou ble header with rival Penn State Altoona, Whitby would show her skill on the defensive side with a flash of the leather. With two outs and the tying run on second, Whitby would make a diving catch in center field to end the game. Whitby was a perfect 4-4 in the game and snatched up another RBI. As a senior, Whitby is among the leaders in several hitting categories for Behrend soft ball. She currently has 197 hits, 147 runs scored, 29 doubles, 26 triples and has a career batting average of .410. At this point in the season, Whitby is posting a .448 bat ting average, which places her fifth in the league. She also is tied for first in the leagues with triples; she has four. Whitby also has an impres sive 26 hits, showing that she is comfortable and confident at the plate. "I'm more disciplined than I've been in the past," she says, "and through experience I By Christine Newby sports editor censos6@ psu.edu Altoona from scoring more runs. She struck out seven, walked one, and gave up only one hit. The turning point of the game was the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Lions went on a rally. The Blue and White scored all of their five runs in the sixth, on six hits. Once again, Babish was the reason for Behrend's scoring. With two outs and runners on first and second, Babish came through by hitting a double to drive in a run. "Babish was the turning point in both games," said Pondo. "She started the ball rolling for both games." Frischkorn also believes that the game turned around after Babish's double. "I believe that the turning point was when we got that first hit in the bottom of the sixth," said Frischkorn. "It sparked a rally that brought in five runs." The Blue and White singled five consecutive times to bring in four runs in the sixth to take the lead 5-4. "We didn't give up," said Pondo. "We played through tough situations. We kept hit ting the ball, but right to our opponents. I told the team just to keep hitting the ball and it would go to the gaps. And we did just that." In the final inning, Koman struck out the first batter. Altoona got a sense of a possi ble comeback when the next batter reached first due to the fourth error of the day for the Behrend Lions and then advanced to second on a grounder to Koman. With two outs and the tying run on second, Whitby would make a vital diving catch on a have gained a lot of confidence I need to get on base." Whitby came to Behrend planning to only play softball for two years, but that obvious ly didn't turn out to be the case. "I was planning on playing softball here for two years and transferring down to main campus," Whitby said. "I fell in love with this place and could n't leave my team." Whitby is a leader on and off the field as a senior. Leadership is an important quality, and she chooses to lead line drive hit to centerfield to end the game. Whitby ended the second game going 4-for-4 and an RBI. Sophomore Lia Sorce and Gruber each had two hits in the game as Berhend had a total of eleven hits. "The second game was rough but we battled through it and came out on top," said Frischkorn. "I was very proud of the team for holding our composure at the end and not giving up." The Lady Lions travel to play Mt. Aloysius and Pitt- By Nick Blake sports editor npbso4l@@psu.edu "I'm not really a vocal leader, but more of a lead by example type of player," Whitby said. "Off the field, it is important to show underclassmen that our focus is on being a student before an athlete. None of us are ever going to play profes sional softball, so it is an important to get a good educa tion first." As for life after college, Whitby has not yet nailed down definite plans. "It's a work in progress." Whitby has had a great career at Behrend and she has .: • • Al' •y abo • •• • • •• • l't • • ' g •:•g . 'l' • The Behrend Beacon I 11 Greensburg next week and return home to play Westminster on April 14 at 3:30 p.m. and Washington and Jefferson on April 16 at 3 p.m. "Against Washington and Jefferson we need to focus on the speed of the pitchers since one pitcher is fast and one is slower," said Pondo. "We need to bring our A game and adjust our hitting. Westminster always plays a top notch game against us. We need to stop the ball and make sure we have no errors like this past week." Pitcher Laura Frischkorn fires the pitch accumulated a lot of memories, but there isn't one that stands out. "I don't think 1 can pick out one memory," Whitby said. "There are so many, from going to NCAA for the first time, winning two AMCC championships, beating rival Ithaca in Florida and just spending time with my friends." Whitby and the Behrend softball team will take on Pitt- Greensburg on April 11th at 1:00 p.m. CONTRI FITI) PHOTO CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
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