BASEBALL
BRADFORD – Sophomore right fielder Bart McGary of Curwensville stretched his hitting streak to 12 games as Pitt-Bradford climbed into the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference playoff hunt with sweeps against Franciscan (Ohio) 9-2 and 10-1 April 14 and Hilbert 14-4 and 17-1 at Hamburg, N.Y., April 15.
The streak ended in a 12-2 loss to Mount Aloysius at Cresson Saturday.
The Panthers (11-14) also dropped the second game, 18-10, and sit in sixth place at 7-9 with two games to play. Two other teams also are in contention for that final playoff spot.
McGary had seven hits, including three doubles and his second home of the season, and three consecutive three-RBI games last week.
Sophomore catcher Phil Solley of Grampian (Curwensville Area High School) also hit safely in five games. He drove in six runs.
McGary sports a .333 average with 26 hits and 20 RBIs in 23 games. He has scored 13 runs, drawn 11 walks and been hit three times.
Solley\’s average is .243 for 18 hits in 21 games. He has knocked in 12 runs and scored 16. He has eight walks and been hit four times.
* * * * * * * * * *
SLIPPERY ROCK – Four consecutive two-hit games against Lake Erie (Ohio) College Saturday and Sunday boosted Slippery Rock shortstop-designated hitter Adam Jury\’s average above .400 again.
A Clearfield Area High School graduate from Bigler, The Rock sophomore is 10th in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference with his .403 average for 56 hits in 42 games, all but one as a starter.
The Rock (31-13) took the week off from PSAC action to defeat Ohio Valley (W.Va.) 8-3 and 3-1 on April 14 and Lake Erie 14-4 Saturday and 5-2 and 11-4 Sunday. Lake Erie won Saturday\’s opener 6-5 in eight innings.
Jury played in five of the games and was 9-for-20 with two doubles and two runs batted in.
He is third on the team in hits, fourth in runs with 36 and fourth in RBIs with 38.
Jury, who has 17 multi-hit games, has socked 10 doubles and three home runs. He has 17 walks and has been hit three times.
Teammate Matt Adams of Philipsburg continues to lead the PSAC in virtually every offensive category.
He\’s No. 1 in average (.481), on-base average (.555), hits (77), total bases (134), slugging (.837), runs (55) and RBIs (56).
He\’s tied for the lead in doubles (21) and home runs (12) and tied for third in walks (28).
Slippery Rock, third in the PSAC Western Division at 12-8, already has clinched a conference playoff berth.
* * * * * * * * * *
ERIE – Sophomore Kyle Kline of Clearfield cracked the Penn State-Behrend starting lineup for first time in his career last week and collected three hits in those three games as the Lions\’ first baseman.
PS-Behrend (24-7) grabbed the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference lead with 9-4 and 8-4 wins over LaRoche at Pittsburgh Saturday.
Kline singled and walked twice in the nightcap.
The Lions (14-2) moved a game ahead of Frostburg (W.Va.) State (13-3) with two games against Hilbert (1-13) remaining.
Kline\’s first start came in an 11-0 victory against Allegheny at Meadville on April 14.
He singled and doubled in the second game of 11-3 and 12-8 losses to 11th-ranked College of Wooster (Ohio) Sunday afternoon.
In 12 games, Kline has six hits, three of them doubles, for a .333 average. He has driven in three runs and has not committed an error in 23 chances.
* * * * * * * * * *
SOFTBALL
ALTOONA – Alanna Luzier of Frenchville (Clearfield Area H.S.) had four hits in six games and stole three bases for Penn State-Altoona last week.
The freshman second baseman grabbed the outright stolen base lead in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference with 13. She has been throw out only one time.
The Lions (6-22, 4-12 AMCC) won the first and last games, edging LaRoche 3-1 at home Thursday and downing Franciscan 10-2 in five innings at Steubenville, Ohio, Saturday.
They were beaten 4-3 by LaRoche, 5-1 and 11-3 by Medaille at Buffalo, N.Y., Friday and 6-4 by Franciscan.
Luzier has played all 27 games for PS-Altoona and sports a .299 average with 26 hits, third on the team.
She leads the Lions in doubles with seven and is third in runs scored with 17.
* * * * * * * * * *
LOCK HAVEN – Sophomore Brittany Pataky of Clearfield has two hits in 16 games for Lock Haven, which wrapped up the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Central Division title with pairs of 8-0 Mercy-Rule shutouts against Clarion Friday and 7-0 and 2-1 victories over Bloomsburg Saturday to pad its winning streak at Lawrence Field to 67 games.
The Lady Eagles (38-5), elevated to No. 3 in the NCAA Division II rankings, went into the final day of the season deadlocked atop the division with Bloomsburg (29-7) at 13-1.
By virtue of their sweep, the Lady Eagles will host the first round of the conference playoffs Friday and Saturday.
Kristin Erb (37-4) was named division Pitcher of the Week for the sixth consecutive week after winning all four games with a 31-4 strikeout-walk ratio for 25 innings. She allowed only 13 hits.
Pataky has scored four runs. She walked three times and been hit twice, mostly in pinch-hitting roles.
* * * * * * * * * *
WOMEN\’S TRACK & FIELD
NEW WILMINGTON – Senior Rebecca Shiner of Clearfield won the 400-meter run for host Westminster in the Presidents\’ Athletic Conference North Quad Meet at Harold Burry Stadium April 15.
She crossed the finish line in 1:01.32 for her first race at that distance this season and also led off for the Titan \’B\’ 4×400 relay team that placed second in 4:12.41.
The Titans easily won the four-team meet with 106 points.
In the Westminster Invitational Saturday, Shiner ran a season-best 2:22.00 for third place in the 800.
The Titans amassed 248 points to outdistance Penn State-Behrend (128) in the seven-team event.
* * * * * * * * * *
MEN\’S TRACK & FIELD
NEW WILMINGTON – A trio of Clearfield Area High School graduates contributed to their teams\’ point totals in the Westminster Invitational at Harold Burry Stadium Saturday.
Michael Johnson had a busy day, placing in four hurdle and jumping events, and John Bowman placed in two throwing events as Penn State-Behrend breezed to the championship of the seven-team field with 255 points.
Freshman Ryan Jones earned points in two events for the host Titans, who wound up third with 126 points.
Johnson finished second in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:00.20, third in the high jump by clearing 1.75 meters and fifth in the triple jump by covering 12.11 meters. All were his best efforts of the outdoor season.
In addition, the Lion sophomore started \’A\’ 4×400 relay foursome on a 3:37.2 performance that was good for third place.
Bowman, also a sophomore, was sixth in the javelin with a throw of 46.21 meters and eighth in the discus with a throw of 35.27 meters.
Jones claimed fifth in the 800 in 2:06.81 and carried the baton for Westminster\’s runner-up \’A\’ 4×400 relay team, which posted a 3:33.37.
On Wednesday, the Titan freshman placed sixth in the 800 in 2:05.73 and ran the third leg for the \’A\’ 4×400 relay quartet that was third in the Presidents\’ Athletic Conference North Quad Meet.
