BASEBALL
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Sophomore shortstop-designated hitter Adam Jury of Bigler (Clearfield Area High School) had three hits, including a home run, and drove in five runs as Slippery Rock averted a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division series sweep by California with a 12-2 victory Saturday.
The Rock, which cracked the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association\’s NCAA Division II rankings at No. 18 and jumped eighth to second in the East Region last week, had dropped the first three games, 6-5 and 4-0 at California Friday and in Saturday\’s lidlifter.
Jury, 6-for-13 in the series, had his seventh and eight multi-hit games of the season in the home twinbill.
After singling twice in the first game, the 6-0, 195-pounder cracked a two-run double in The Rock\’s three-run first inning for what proved to be the game-winning hit of the nightcap.
He belted a two-run homer in the fifth and drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth for his final RBI.
In 17 games, Jury is hitting a blistering .467, second behind catcher Matt Adams (.478) of Philipsburg for The Rock.
Jury also is second in hits with 28 and runs with 19 and third in slugging with a .650 average.
He has five doubles, two home runs and 18 RBIs.
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QUEEN CREEK, Ariz. – Juniors Phil Solley of Grampian (Curwensville Area H.S.) and Bart McGary of Curwensville hit .333 and .200, respectively, on Penn State-Behrend\’s spring trip that ended with three consecutive losses last week.
They each had two hits and scored two runs Monday when the Panthers edged Wesleyan (Conn.) 5-3 for a 3-0 start.
However, the Panthers fell 11-7 to Swarthmore Tuesday and 11-8 and 6-3 to Wesleyan on Friday.
Solley had a hit in both games against Wesleyan, driving in two runs in the opener. McGary singled and scored in that game.
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PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Sophomore infielder Kyle Kline of Clearfield saw late-inning action in two of Penn State-Behrend\’s six games last week as the Lions completed their spring trip with a 7-1 record.
Kline played third base against Juniata and first base against Hiram (Ohio), getting one at-bat in each game. He walked against Hiram.
After losing 10-9 to St. Scholastica (Minn.) on Monday, the Lions defeated Manhattanville (N.Y.) 15-9 Tuesday, Juniata 16-1 and 18-11 Thursday, Ursinus 2-1 Friday and Hiram 10-9 Saturday.
Kline has appeared in three games and is hitless in three official at-bats.
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WRESTLING
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Army junior 149-pounder Matt Kyler, the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association runner-up, is seeded No. 8 for the 2009 NCAA Division I Championships in the Scottrade Center, according to brackets released Monday.
Former Clearfield Area High School teammate Brad Pataky, a redshirt sophomore 125-pounder who placed fourth in the Big Ten Tournament, will be one of Penn State\’s six hopefuls for the three-day tourney that gets under way Thursday at noon.
Both ex-Bisons will be in action during the opening session, and Pataky (28-9) will have two matches if he defeats Bloomsburg\’s Ian Moser (22-12) in the pigtail round. Moser, a redshirt sophomore, placed third in the Eastern Wrestling League.
The winner moves on to test sixth seed and Colonial Athletic Association champ James Nicholson (35-2) of Old Dominion in the first round. The redshirt sophomore placed eighth last year.
Kyler (39-5) will go against Tennessee-Chattanooga redshirt freshman Daniel Waddell (12-9) in his first-round bout. Waddell is the Southern Conference champ.
A returning All-American after placing sixth at 141 last year, Kyler goes into his third national tourney tied for fourth in wins in Division I.
Penn State has three seeded wrestlers, junior All-American Bubba Jenkins (24-1) No. 2 at 149, redshirt senior All-American Jake Strayer (16-8) of Forest Hills High School No.. 10 at 133 and freshman Quentin Wright (29-10) of Bald Eagle Area No. 11 at 174.
Jenkins\’ only loss was to No. 1 seed Brent Metcalf in the Big Ten finals. They met in the national title bout a year ago, Metcalf winning 14-8.
The other Nittany Lion qualifiers are redshirt freshman Frank Molinaro (19-16) at 141 and redshirt junior All-American Dan Vallimont (21-10) at 165.
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HOUSTON, Texas – University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown 165-pounder Kyle Keane of Bradford (Clearfield Area H.S.) was unable to repeat last year\’s All-American fourth-place effort at the 2009 NCAA Division II Championships, losing in the early rounds to two of the top finishers.
In his first bout Friday in the University of Houston Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, the redshirt junior was beaten 10-2 by Nebraska-Omaha\’s Aaron Denson, who lost 4-0 to Mercyhurst\’s Josh Shields in the championship match.
Keane came back against Jordan Larson of the Colorado School of Mines to engineer a 56-second fall, his first of the season and eighth fastest in the two-day tourney.
His season ended in the consolation second round. Tad Merritt of St. Cloud (Minn.) State took him down three times for a 7-1 decision and went to place third.
Keane, who lost 7-0 to national champ Shields in the Super Region I finals, wound up 19-11 for a 66-23 career record.
Mountain Cat teammate Shane Valko (27-1) of South Fork (Forest Hills H.S.) was the silver medalist at 133. Kutztown\’s Joe Kemmerer edged him 2-1 in overtime.
Adam Whetstone of Claysburg placed fifth at 141 for UPJ, which placed 14th with 33 points.
West Liberty (W.Va.) State senior Doug Surra of Kersey won the gold medal at 141 with a 5-3 decision over No. 1-ranked Raymond Dunning of Adams (Colo.) State.
Surra, who was ranked No. 3, slipped past No. 2 Mario Morgan of Nebraska-Omaha 3-1 in overtime in the semis.
The three-time national placewinner was 120-18 with two PIAA fifth-place medals for St. Marys High School.
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SOFTBALL
ALTOONA, Pa. – Freshman second baseman Alanna Luzier of Frenchville (Clearfield Area H.S.) was one of the top hitters on Penn State-Altoona\’s season-opening trip to Virginia that concluded with two losses to Ferrum College on March 9.
Luzier hit safely in four of the six games for a .350 average that is second on the team.
She is tied for the lead in hits with seven, including five in the double-header split at Sweet Briar on March 7, and runs with four.
Luzier also has two runs batted in and three stolen bases for the 1-5 Lady Lions.
In the field, she has handled 17 chances without an error.
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GLENVILLE, W.Va. – Sophomore first baseman Brittany Pataky of Clearfield played in two games as Lock Haven began its climb back up the NCAA Division II rankings with four wins against West Virginia teams in the Glenville State College Tournament last weekend.
The Lady Eagles, who fell from preseason No. 1 all the way to No. 19 after finishing their trip to Hawaii at 10-4, rolled past West Virginia State 6-0, Glenville State 7-0, Ohio Valley 21-1 in five innings and Charleston 9-0 in four innings.
Pataky got only two plate appearances, walking against Ohio Valley.
In eight games, including three starts, she has two hits, two runs, two walks and one stolen base.
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WOMEN\’S TRACK & FIELD
CONWAY, S.C. – Senior Rebecca Shiner of Clearfield finished 24th among the 62 runners in the 800-meter race as Westminster opened its outdoor schedule at the Coastal Carolina/Asics Invitational Saturday.
Shiner posted a 2:29.83 time in the crowded event that drew entries from 24 schools.
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MEN\’S TRACK & FIELD
ERIE, Pa. – Sophomores Michael Johnson and John Bowman of Clearfield were consistent performers in field events for Penn State-Behrend during the recently-completed indoor season.
In the Case-Western Reserve Spartan Relays at Cleveland, Ohio, on Jan. 24, Johnson finished eighth in the triple jump (11.49 meters, 37 feet, 8-1/2 inches), ninth in the high jump (1.68m, 5\’6\”) and 17th in the long jump (5.29m, 17\’4-1/4\”) while Bowman placed eighth in the weight throw (9.33m, 32\’7\”) and 15th in the shot put (10.05m, 32\’11-3/4\”).
On Feb. 14, Johnson triple jumped 11.76m (38\’7\”) for 17th place and Bowman posted a 10.70m (35\’1-1/4\”) weight throw for 28th place in Cornell\’s Robert Kane Invitational at Ithaca, N.Y.
Johnson earned seven points for the Lions at the Kenyon (Ohio) Classic on Feb. 21, placing fifth in the triple jump (11.68m), seventh in the high jump (1.75m) and eighth in the long jump (5.63m).
Bowman was sixth in the weight throw with a season-best 12.72m (41\’8-3/4\”) at the Marietta (Ohio) College Open on Feb. 28.
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WOMEN\’S BASKETBALL
DUBOIS – Sophomore guard-forward Brittany Barrett of Mahaffey (Curwensville Area H.S.) was one of nine Penn State-DuBois Lady Lion basketball players named to the 2009 All-Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference Academic Team.
Students must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher during the semester of competition or a cumulative GPA of 3.0 and completion of 24 credits.
All of the other PSU-DuBois Lady Lions also played for District 9 teams, Nichelle Hoover, Brittany Hoover, Beth Pernesky and Andrea Moyer of Brockway at DuBois Central Catholic, Courtney Shenkle at DuBois, Missy Aul at St. Marys, Whitney Lewis at Cameron County and Lauren Donovan at Oswayo Valley.
Aul, a sophomore forward who averaged 12.16 points and a PSUAC-high 10.58 rebounds a game, was one of 10 players to make the All-Conference Team.
Kara Carnovale of St. Marys received honorable mention.
PSU-DuBois finished 6-9 in the conference and 8-13 overall.
