BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – Junior pitcher Brandon Baughman of Clearfield helped the Geneva College baseball team win its first American Mideast Conference North Division title with his third strong effort in his last four starts on Saturday.
The lefthander pitched five innings, striking out three and allowing one run, five hits and one walk, as the Golden Tornadoes nipped Point Park 3-2 in the opener of their season-ending doubleheader. Closer Justin Montgomery got the last six outs to save Baughman\’s fourth victory in nine decisions.
Geneva, which had swept Point Park 7-2 and 11-4 Friday at Washington, rolled to a 9-1 triumph in the nightcap to finish 12-4, one game ahead of Malone (11-5), and qualify for the NAIA Region 9 Tournament.
The Golden Tornadoes opened the regional with a 2-1 win over Rio Grande (Ohio) Tuesday morning to boost their record to 29-18. They were scheduled to play Ohio Dominican this morning. Ohio Dominican beat Malone 8-6.
Walsh (Ohio), the third-place team in the AMC-North, beat Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 3-1, and Mount Vernon Nazarene eliminated Rio Grande 7-6 in 10 innings in other games Tuesday.
The Region 9 champion will advance to next week\’s Super Regional, which is a best-of-three series, for the right to play in the NAIA College World Series in two weeks.
Baughman has a 4.66 earned run average for his nine starts. He has pitched 48-1/3 innings, allowing 62 hits and 21 walks while striking out 28. He\’s given up 36 runs, 25 of which were earned.
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BRADFORD, Pa. – Seeded fifth for the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament after losing three of four games in the final week to finish the regular season 10-8, the University of Pitt-Bradford baseball team surprised fourth seed Penn State-Behrend 9-0 and 4-2 in 10 innings at Erie Saturday to advance to the Final Four this weekend.
The Panthers, who are 22-12 overall, will play top seed and host LaRoche (23-15, 13-5) Friday at noon after second seed Medaille (14-19, 13-5) and third seed Frostburg (W.Va.) State (27-13, 13-5) square off at 9 a.m. Frostburg State ousted sixth seed Pitt-Greensburg 4-3 in eight innings and 13-8 in the other first-round series Saturday.
The tourney continues through Saturday afternoon.
Two 2006 Curwensville Area High School graduates, utility infielder Bart McGary of Curwensville and backup catcher Philip Solley of Hepburnia, are on the Pitt-Bradford team.
McGary, who was the designated hitter in the opener of the April 30 doubleheader against Frostburg State and was hitless in three at bats, saw his average tumble to .293. He\’s 12-for 41 in 18 games, 10 as a starter.
Solley sports a .417 average after making an out in a pinch-hit role in the 24-3 loss to Frostburg State. He is 5-for-12 in nine games, one as a starter.
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GREENSBURG, Pa. – Utilityman Andrew Kirsch of Clearfield ended his junior season for the Seton Hill University baseball team with a .246 average after collecting four hits in 13 at bats as a starter in the Griffins\’ final four games last week.
In 23 games, 17 as a starter, Kirsch was 15-for-61 with four doubles, two home runs and 12 runs batted in. He scored 16 runs, drew seven walks, was hit twice and struck out 12 times.
Seton Hill lost 13-12 to Alderson-Broaddus, thumped Mount Aloysius 23-2 and split a twinbill with Ohio Dominican, winning 8-6 before bowing 2-1 in eight innings, to finish 34-17.
Seton Hill move from the American Mideast Conference to the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference this year but was not eligible to compete for the 2007 title. The Griffins played most of their games against AMC teams after winning the conference championship in 2006.
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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Scott Hugney, a junior from Frenchville, missed an opportunity to play for Slippery Rock University in the last week\’s Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference baseball tourney because of a high ankle sprain that has kept him out of all but two of The Rock\’s last 39 games.
The Clearfield Area High School graduate has a .286 average for 11 games, 10 as a starter.
Slippery Rock wound up third in the PSAC tourney after finishing second in the Western Division. The Rock (33-15) beat West Chester 13-6 and California 8-2 before losing to Cal 7-2 and Shippensburg 7-1.
The Rock had a berth in the NCAA Division II North Atlantic Region Tournament all but locked up until Shippensburg (26-23) stunned California (36-15) 18-6 in the PSAC title game.
Going into the tourney, Eastern Division champ Kutztown, California, West Chester, West Virginia State, Slippery Rock, Alderson-Broddaus, Concord and West Liberty State were the top eight in the rankings, with Shippensburg ninth. Ship will bump out one of the top six, so The Rock might be on the bubble. Pairings will be announced Monday.
Freshman catcher Matt Adams of Philipsburg hit in all four of The Rock\’s games, going 7-for-16 with four RBIs. He tied the Slippery Rock record with his 20th double of the season.
Adams leads The Rock with a .414 average on 63 hits in 152 at-bats in 43 games, all as the catcher or designated hitter. He has one triple, four home runs and 31 runs batted in.
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SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Slippery Rock University junior Nate Shadeck of Frenchville earned a silver medal at the 2007 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Track and Field Championships Saturday at Shippensburg University\’s Seth Grove Stadium.
The Clearfield Area High School graduate was second in the 400-meter hurdles in 53.49 seconds. Bernard Richards of Shippensburg won in 52.84.
Shadeck also ran the anchor leg for the 4×400 relay team that finished sixth in 3:18.77.
The Rock, with 134 points, finished third in a tight race for the team title. Lock Haven accumulated 139 points to nip Shippensburg by one point.
