WOMEN\’S TRACK & FIELD
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Westminster senior Rebecca Shiner of Clearfield won the 800-meter run at the Slippery Rock University Invitational Saturday.
The Titan crossed the finish line in a season-best 2:22:12, more than one second ahead of the next runner.
Her seed time of 2:24.98 ranked fifth among the 32 runners who represented 11 schools.
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BASEBALL
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – After having a career-high 10-game hitting streak snapped in the second game at Mercyhurst Saturday, Slippery Rock sophomore Adam Jury of Bigler (Clearfield Area High School) started another one with three hits in a twinbill split with the Lakers at Critchfield Park Sunday.
The Rock (26-12) salvaged the finale of the four-game set, 13-9, to hold on to fourth place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division at 12-8. The Lakers (24-13, 11-5 PSAC-West) won 3-2 in eight innings and 6-0 Saturday and 9-6 Sunday.
Jury had two singles, was hit by a pitch once and scored three runs in the milestone victory for coach Jeff Messer, who is 750-428-4 in 24 seasons.
Jury was 4-for-13 for the home-and-home series, his lofty average slipping from .406 to .395.
He is third on the team in runs batted in with 36, and his 23 in PSAC games are tops in the conference.
The Rock\’s shortstop-designated hitter has 47 hits, including eight doubles and three home runs, and has scored 33 runs.
Two Mercyhurst players were cited for their efforts against The Rock.
Former Punxsutawney standout Nick Gillung of Worthville was named PSAC Western Division Pitcher of the Week for the three-hit shutout. The sophomore left-hander struck out nine and walked none in his fifth win without a loss.
Junior infielder John Blike was tabbed Player of the Week after collecting five hits and four RBIs in the three Laker wins.
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ALTOONA, Pa. – Bart McGary of Curwensville extended his hitting streak to eight games with pairs of singles and doubles and drove in six runs, but Pitt-Bradford\’s losing skein reached four with 16-12 and 23-6 setbacks to Penn State-Altoona Saturday.
Former high school teammate Phil Solley of Grampian had singles in both games.
The Panthers face an uphill climb to make the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference playoffs. Currently, they are in seventh place at 3-7 and are 7-12 overall.
McGary, who had his sixth multi-single game with two singles and a double in the opener, jumped to third on the team with .345 average.
The sophomore right fielder has 19 hits with three doubles, one home run and 10 RBIs in 17 games. He has drawn 11 walks and hit by a pitch twice.
Solley, a sophomore catcher, is hitting .250 with 13 hits and six RBIs in 15 games.
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ERIE, Pa. – Sophomore Kyle Kline of Clearfield pinch-hit in both games of Penn State-Behrend\’s 14-2 and 11-2 sweep of Franciscan (3-18) at Steubenville, Ohio, last Wednesday.
He played third base in the nightcap and had one walk and one run batted in for three plate appearances.
In seven games, Kline has three hits, two of them doubles, for a .375 average.
The Lions (19-4) also defeated Pitt-Greensburg 2-0 and 7-1 at home Saturday to maintain their Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference lead at 12-2.
Senior David Koerbel (Pittsburgh Central Catholic) was named AMCC Pitcher of the Week for his two-hit shutout against Pitt-Greensburg (13-13, 7-7 ACCC) that made him PSU-Behrend\’s all-time wins leader with 24.
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SOFTBALL
ALTOONA, Pa. – Penn State-Altoona freshman second baseman Alanna Luzier of Frenchville (Clearfield Area H.S.) hiked her batting average 20 points with seven hits in five games and was named to the All-Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Academic Team last week.
She had three hits and scored two runs in an 11-8 loss to Penn State-Greater Allegheny Thursday and three hits, one a double, in 8-3 and 9-4 losses to Pitt-Bradford Saturday.
The Lady Lions (3-18) also were beaten 9-1 twice by Mount Aloysius and own a 2-8 AMCC record.
Luzier, who has started and led off every game, carries a .333 average and leads the team in doubles (5) and stolen bases (10). She shares the top spot in hits (22) and is second in runs (14).
The kinesiology major was one of 82 PSU-Altoona athletes joining more than 500 from the other AMCC schools in celebration of National Student-Athlete Day.
The requirement was a minimum 3.2 grade point average at the conclusion of the Fall 2008 semester for members of AMCC championship sports.
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LOCK HAVEN, PA. – Sophomore Brittany Pataky of Clearfield was called on to pinch-hit three times for Lock Haven last week.
She walked and scored the final run in the fifth inning of the Lady Eagles\’ Mercy Rule 9-0 win at Indiana Saturday.
Lock Haven (34-5), ranked No. 5 in NCAA Division II, won the opener 8-0 and is tied with Bloomsburg atop the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Central Division at 11-1
Earlier in the week, the Lady Eagles trimmed East Stroudsburg 8-0 in five innings and 4-1 in non-conference action and then swept Mansfield 6-2 and 12-1 in five innings in a PSAC-Central twinbill.
Pitcher Kirsten Erb and catcher Amanda Roosa were named the PSAC Central Division\’s top players for the week.
Erb earned her fifth Pitcher of the Week honor, going 6-0 with an earned run average of 0.42 and 47 strikeouts in 33 innings.
Roosa had 10 hits, including two home runs, and a .526 average. She drove in 10 runs and had a .550 on-base average.
Pataky has two hits in 16 games. She\’s reached base three times via walks and twice when hit by a pitch.
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MEN\’S TRACK & FIELD
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Sophomores John Bowman and Michael Johnson of Clearfield earned Top 10 finishes for Penn State-Behrend at the Slippery Rock University Invitational Saturday.
Bowman placed eighth in the javelin event, just missing his personal-best mark with a toss of 49.31 meters, and 19th in the discus with a sub-par throw of 30.80 meters.
Johnson was seventh in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:01.80 and eighth in the triple jump with a hop, skip and jump of 11.63 meters.
The Lions were No. 15 in last week\’s U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll, the highest ranking in the program\’s history.
