A OI Behrend Beacon Cy\
I x April 16 - 20l ° wD II
I ■■ | www.thebehrendbeacon.com
BASEBALL
Lions steal two from Pitt-Greensburg, fall to Wooster
KAELA BISHOP
During a week of lough com
petition, the Lions were able to
gain footing in the conference
due to the strong leadership
shown by veteran players.
The Lions defeated Pitt-
Greensburg in both games of a
doubleheader, taking the team
to an 8-2 record in conference
play.
"I feel we can definitely come
through when we need a big
win. We have a lot of guys who
have been here for a while, won
a lot of games, lost some
games, and know what it
takes,” senior third baseman
Dustin Dubensky said.
The Behrend Lions annihi-
WOMEN'S WATEBPOLO
Lady Lions find success at CWPA Regional Tournament
ELESE MERKOVSKY
After a weekend at Conn., the
Lions found themselves with
more wins in a season than
they have seen for the past five
years with two overtime wins.
From April 10 to April 13. the
Lions made the trip to New
London, Conn, to take part in
the CWPA Regional Tourna
ment.
Leaving the tournament with
a 3-2 record, the teams got to
take on some skilled teams, and
were able to compete in each
game. The team showed their
SOFTBALLL
Strong defensive play leads
SEAN NEELY
Senior Emma Hahn and
freshman Brooke Taraso
vich went on a hot streak on
the mound to sweep confer
ence opponent Hilbert.
On April 13, the Lions de
feated their divisional oppo
nents in both games of a
doubleheader.
Hahn and Tarasovich
combined struck out 12 bat
ters, while only surrender
ing a total of one run on 10
hits.
Behrend and Hilbert both
offered good pitching, get
ting themselves out of base
loading situations by pro
ducing key strikeouts.
The bottom of the fourth
inning saw Behrend push
for the first lead of the game
with a single by Beth
Chidester that loaded the
bases.
The Lions were unable to
capatilize, though, and left
the runners stranded.
Finally, in the bottom of
the sixth inning, Behrend
struck in high-scoring fash
ion, and finally got to the
lated Pitt-Greensburg during
the first game of the double
header.
Going 3-for-5 with one RBI
and scoring four runs was Sen
ior shortstop .Josh Fvffe.
Another senior showing lead
ership through his performance
on the field was third baseman
Dustin Dubensky. He went 3-
for-5 with one RBI and scored
three runs.
'The experience rubs off on
the younger guys on the field
and in the dugout, and I think
our team knows we are and
likes to be the team to beat,”
Dubensky said.
Freshman Matt Bittner and
junior right fielder Geoff Lang
benefited from the play of the
upperclassmen.
Senior third baseman Dustin Dubensky went 3-5 and scored three runs in the Lions' game one win over the Pitt-Greensburg Panthers.
ability by winning both games
in overtime
"It was great to watch the
girls come from behind in the
final seconds to push the game
to overtime." head coach Joe
Tristan said. "It was also great
to watch the girls rally together
as a team and grab the two vic
tories in overtime."
Senior goalie Jenna Zeyfang
helped to defend the post with
106 saves this year and 12
steals, and led the team along
with co-captain Danielle Wil
son.
"Even though our back to
back wins in overtime this past
Hilbert Hawks pitcher.
Behrend took advantage
of key fielding errors by the
Hawks.
A passed ball got by the
Hawks’ catcher. From then
on. it was all Behrend, as a
single by Kessi Osborne
opened the flood gates.
Morgan Griffin followed
up with a two-run double.
The Lions would go on to
win the first game by a score
of 5-0. Late-inning heroics
powered the way to their
first game victory.
Game two also saw a de
fensive struggle, but
Behrend had everything go
their way.
Tarasovich, like Hahn,
would also pitch a complete
game.
Hilbert had no answer to
the dominance of both
Behrend pitchers.
The Lions would score
early in the bottom of the
second. Highlighted by a
Mary DeMino triple, the
Lions would gain an early
three-run lead.
Hilbert would eventually
score in the top of the sev-
Bittner went 3-for-4 with five
RBI and scored one run as the
designated hitter.
Lang went 3-for-5 with two
RBI and scored two runs.
On the defensive side of the
field, senior pitcher Steve
Miller did not give up a single
run in the six innings he
pitched.
Miller struck out 10 batters
and only allowed four hits.
The Blue and White won the
game with a final score of 18-2.
“We played a good solid two
games on both sides of the
ball,” Dubensky said. “We got
two outstanding pitching per
formances from Steve Miller
and Ryan Jacobs.”
In the second game against
Pitt-Greensburg, Jacobs
.*•*£*<• V'*"
weekend were mentally and
physically tiring, they were the
most enjoyable games of the
season because we came to
gether as a team to earn our
wins," Zeyfang said.
Tristen credits success this
season from all players being
able to step up to the chal
lenges faced by the team.
"I am very proud of my
team's performance this week
end; the wins were a great mo
tivation for us to perform
better,” Zeyfang said.
Stef Pontillo and Tegan
Boland have been working ex
tremely hard at the frontcourt
enth, but, it was too-little
too-late.. Behrend
would go on to win game
two by a score of 4-1.
“We started off slow today,
and it took us six innings,
but we stuck with it,” head
coach Stacy Pondo said.
"We took advantage of our
opponents’ mistakes. We
came back and focused
when needed.”
Behind Behrend’s pitchers
came a brilliant defensive
effort.
“We have confidence right
now,” Hahn said. “We’ve
stressed on defense all
week, and it showed today.
Tarasovich also stressed
the collective team effort.
“Our team’s camaraderie
is here, so we are playing as
a team,” Tarasovich said.
“As always, we are working
hard. Today, this showed.”
Behrend improved to 4-4
in the AMCC Conference,
sitting in sixth place behind
rival Penn State Altoona.
Behrend now turns their
attention to conference op
ponent Mt. Aloysius on
April 17.
pitched a shutout, allowingjust
two hits and striking out nine.
In the third inning, junior
Eddie Kessler got on base by a
walk. Fyffe then brought
Kessler and himself home with
a two-run shot to right-center
field.
The Lions would add another
run from Lang to post a 3-0
Behrend put up a good fight
during the first game of a dou
bleheader against the No. 4 na
tionally ranked Wooster
Fighting Scots.
The team was able to attain
eight hits, but Kessler would be
the only Lion to score.
“Their pitchers did a great
job shutting the door on us
when we had runners on base,”
offense helping to score goals,
and Kendell Duffy and
Mary Ellen Spooner have been
a dynamic a push in the de
fense.
Danielle Wilson. Kim Ballen
tine and Jillian Sebroskv have
really made good work of
perimeter play.
“This season has probably
become more successful be
cause now we actually know
how to play as a team and our
aggression has really stepped
up,” Pontillo said.
The team has worked really
hard to overcome the past
years of disappointment and
to doubleheader sweep
Jon Klein/The Behrend Beacon
Senior pitcher Emma Hahn teamed up with freshman Brooke Tarasovich to dominate the Hilbert Hawks in
a doubleheader sweep. The duo gave up a combined total of one run in the doubleheader.
Dubensky said. “We needed to
get some of the runners we left
on base in the early innings
across the plate, especially
against an opponent like them.”
Senior Ryan Antolik pitched
the first six innings, keeping
the Wooster offensive numbers
low.
Antolik allowed four hits, two
runs, and struck out five, but it
was not enough to beat
Wooster. Behrend took the loss
2-1.
The second game started off
with a bang. Wooster was first
to take control of their bats and
jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the
first inning.
The Lions answered, though,
by scoring five runs in the bot
tom half of the inning.
has really competed in the con
ference. Utica has been one of
their bigger competitions this
vear.
“Working as a team to come
back from a 5-1 deficit to pull
the overtime win against Utica
College has been one of the
highest points of the season.”
assistant coach Anthony Spoto
said.
This weekend, the team takes
on Chatham University in the
Junker Center at 10 a.m. on
Saturday.
“We have a game against
Chatham this Saturday... every
one should come and cheer us
orts
Lang led the team going 3-
for-4 with two RBI and scored
three runs.
Fyffe went 2-for-4 with one
RBI and scored two runs.
Both teams tallied nine hits
but Wooster was able to exe
cute with runners on.
In the end, Wooster took their
second win of the day by a
score 15-8.
The two losses took the Lions
to an overall record of 17-9.
“Everyone in the league is
gunning for us and 1 think we
all like proving to them on the
field that Penn State Behrend is
the best team in the confer
ence,” Dubensky said.
The Lions’ regular season
ends on May 1 at Frostburg St.
Jon KleinCThe Behrend Beacon
on because we have beat them
before, but it doesn't always
mean it will happen again,"
Pontillo said, "We just have to
keep our head in the game and
play hard.”
Finally, the team will take on
Carthage College in the first
round of the CWPA D-111
Championship on April 23.
They lost earlier in the sea
son, but look to compete
against them again.
“Our last meeting was ex
tremely physical and aggres
sive, so I know we are going to
have a hard battle right out the
gate," Tristan said.