GREENSBURG, Pa. – Home cooking proved to be just what Andrew Kirsch of Clearfield and his Seton Hill University baseball teammates needed as the senior leftfielder hit .375 and the Griffins won six of eight games for their best week of the season.
Kirsch collected six hits, including two doubles and one triple, in 16 official at-bats to lift his season average to .302. He drove in seven runs and scored five. He drew two walks, was hit by a pitch twice and stole four bases.
Seton Hill (11-13) split with LaRoche College (10-2, 1-6), swept Indiana (5-4, 7-2) and took three of four from Davis & Elkins (11-12, 1-0, 16-1, 10-2).
In 21 games, all but one as a starter, Kirsch is 19-for-63 at the plate, including five doubles and two triples, and has driven in 15 runs, tied for second on the team. He has reached base 10 times via walks or being hit by a pitch. And he\’s stolen six bases in eight attempts.
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LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – James Zimmermann of Woodland (Clearfield Area High School) socked four hits, one a two-run homer, in four starts for the Lock Haven University baseball team last week.
The freshman second baseman scored three runs and registered his first three RBIs for the Bald Eagles (10-16), who split with Columbia (S.C.) Union (4-12, 8-7 in 8 innings) but salvaged only one win in home-and-home Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference doubleheaders with California (4-6, 5-6, 9-4, 5-10).
Zimmerman doubled his average to .200. He has six hits in 14 games, including nine starts.
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BRADFORD, Pa. – Because of inclement weather, the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford baseball team played only two games last week, and sophomore Bart McGary of Curwensville singled in both to boost his average to. 278.
Phil Solley of Grampian (Curwensville Area H.S.) caught in both games and came through with a run-scoring hit in the nightcap at Pitt-Greensburg.
The Panthers (6-8) lost 8-4 in both games of their first Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference action. They\’ve dropped six in a row.
McGary, who has started every game at third base, is 10-for-37 with two doubles and 10 RBIs, tied for second on the team.
Solley is hitting .314 with 11 safeties in 35 at-bats. The sophomore catcher has two doubles and eight RBIs while also seeing time in the outfield and as the designated hitter. He has been in every game with 12 starts.
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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Scott Hugney of Frenchville (Clearfield Area H.S.) had singled twice and received three free passes in 14 trips to the plate as the Slippery Rock University baseball team won four of six games last week.
Adam Jury of Bigler (Clearfield Area H.S.) pinch-hit in one game.
The Rock swept Gannon 9-5 and 4-3 on Tuesday and Shippensburg 3-1 and 6-0 on Saturday, but Ship gained revenge with 3-0 and 4-2 wins in Sunday\’s Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference doubleheader. The second game went 13 innings.
Philipsburg-Osceola High School grad Matt Adams was named PSAC-West Player of the Week after banging out 11 hits, in 16 at-bats and driving in seven runs. The former Mountie standout belted three doubles and two home runs for a 125.0 slugging percentage. He walked five times and scored six runs. His on-base percentage was 76.2.
Adams is hitting .606 with a .909 slugging average and nine RBIs in 10 games.
Hugney\’s batting average slipped under .300 at .290 for 13 games, nine as a starter. The senior first baseman has nine hits, three of them doubles, and three RBIs.
Jury, a freshman shortstop, has five hits and a .455 average.
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LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Brittany Pataky of Clearfield delivered two pinch-hits for the streaking Lock Haven University softball team last week.
The freshman first baseman singled in the second game of the a 4-0, 6-0 sweep of East Stroudsburg Wednesday and singled home a run and later scored in the nightcap of a 6-0, 8-0 sweep of Slippery Rock Saturday in the Lady Eagles\’ Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division openers.
Lock Haven (23-5), ranked No. 4 in NCAA Division II, stretched its winning streak to 11 with 6-0 and 4-2 victories over Clarion in PSAC-West action at Lawrence Field Sunday. The Lady Eagles have won 47 home games in a row.
Ace Kristin Erb (18-5) pitched a perfect game and went over 200 strikeouts for the season in the first game and came back to win the second game in relief. She has not been scored on in 51-2/3 innings.
Three consecutive pinch-hits have lifted Pataky\’s average to .300. She is 6-for-20 with one double and two RBIs in 14 games, including nine starts.
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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Freshman second baseman Nikki Collins of Clearfield and the Slippery Rock softball team had a rough weekend, dropping Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference twinbills at Lock Haven 8-0 and 6-0 on Saturday and to Indiana 9-4 and 6-3 at home on Sunday.
Collins started all four games but was hitless, her average dipping to .216 for her 18 starts.
She is 8-for-57, with three doubles, one triple and four RBIs. She has scored 11 runs for The Rock (12-6).
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CLARION, Pa. – Freshman Dana Johnson of Grampian (Curwensville Area H.S.) caught three games and pinch-hit in another for the Clarion University softball team last week.
The Golden Eagles (1-10) dropped doubleheaders to Seton Hill 9-1 in six innings and 8-7 and Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division opponents California 5-0 and 7-0 and Lock Haven 6-0 and 4-2.
Johnson was hitless in 10 at-bats and still is looking for her first collegiate safety. She has played in seven games, six of them as the starting catcher or designated hitter.
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Slippery Rock University senior Nate Shadeck of Frenchville (Clearfield Area H.S.) finished second in the 400-meter hurdles at the University of Maryland Track and Field Invitational Saturday.
His time was 54.21 seconds. Bucknell\’s Kevin MacLeod posted a 53.87 to win the race, which attracted 20 hurdlers from a dozen teams.
Shadeck also ran the leadoff leg for The Rock\’s 4×400 relay team that place seventh in 3:26.37.
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PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Junior Rebecca Shiner of Clearfield contributed to the Westminster College\’s third-place showing in the Western Pennsylvania Women\’s Track and Field Championships at Carnegie-Mellon University Saturday.
Shiner placed 10th in the 800-meter run in 2:30.63. The race drew 42 runners from 14 NCAA Division I, II and III schools.
Shiner ran the second leg on the Titans\’ 4×800 and 4×400 relay foursomes that finished second in 10:12.26 and fifth in 4:19.31, respectively.
She teamed with sophomore Tiffani Miller, junior Christine Gettemy and freshman Mandi Thomas in both races.
Westminster had 74.5 points. St. Francis won the title with 157 points, and Robert Morris was second with 101.
