MEN’S GYMNASTICS
UNIVERSITY PARK – Junior Scott Rosenthal of Clearfield triggered a program record-setting performance on the still rings that helped No. 4-ranked Penn State earn the highest team score in the nation this season en route to a 359.300-347.900 win over No. 6 Minnesota in Rec Hall Saturday night.
Paced by the No. 1-ranked Rosenthal’s 15.900, the Nittany Lions totaled 62.400 on the rings as Miguel Pineda was a close second with a 15.700, Parker Raque followed with a 15.500 and Nihir Kothari and Felix Aronovich tied at 15.300.
More than 2,400 fans, including many Penn State gymnasts who returned for an alumni reunion, saw the Nittany Lions also set a program record on the pommel horse with a 59.900 in erasing the previous season high of 357.050 established by top-ranked Oklahoma.
Aronovich walked off with the Gene Wettstone Award as the Big Ten Conference meet’s outstanding performer after setting career highs in floor exercise (14.900) and on the rings and pommel horse (15.000) as well as all-around (89.400). The latter score is the fourth highest in the nation this year.
Aronovich, a junior also tied for first on the parallel bars with a 14.900, was named Big Ten Gymnast of the week for the second time this season and the fourth time in his career.
Rosenthal, whose four-score average is 16.167 in GymInfo’s latest national rankings, has been victorious on the rings in six events this year.
Penn State is 6-1 with a 3-1 Big Ten record.
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BASEBALL
MUSKINGUM, Ohio – Clearfield Area High School graduates Mike Moyer and Chad Zurat picked up victories as Penn State Behrend (7-5) swept a three-game weekend series from Muskingum (5-6) at Mose Morehead Field.
Moyer posted his team-high third win, 8-1, with a complete-game seven-hitter in the nightcap of Saturday’s twinbill after the Lions had ended a three-game losing streak with a 9-2 victory.
The unbeaten junior right-hander started an inning-ending double play in the bottom of the first and then blanked the Muskies over the last six frames.
In the nine-inning series finale Sunday, Zurat turned in a sterling relief performance to earn his first win.
The sophomore closer came on after Muskingum had cut the Lions’ lead to 7-3 in the bottom of the fourth and stranded two runners. He allowed only two hits and one run in the next five innings, striking out seven, walking three and hitting one.
Moyer owns a 2.04 earned run average after three starts and 17.2 innings. He has given up 13 hits and five runs, four earned, while striking out 13, walking five and hitting two.
Zurat (1-1) has pitched nine innings in four appearances with a 2.00 ERA. He’s whiffed 11, walked three, hit one and surrendered only five hits and two runs.
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WINCHESTER, Va. – Freshman infielder Derek Danver of Clearfield saw his batting average tumble from .321 to .281 after going hitless in Penn State Altoona’s 11-8 loss to No. 20-ranked Shenandoah on Tuesday, March 13.
Danver has nine hits, including three doubles, and still leads the 2-9 Lions with nine runs batted in.
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SOFTBALL
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Former Curwensville Area High School teammates Holly Lansberry and Sara Clark faced each other on the opening and closing days of the National Collegiate Sports Invitational last week.
Lansberry is a junior pitcher-outfielder for Lycoming College, while Clark is a freshman outfielder who made the Clarion University starting lineup as a walk-on.
The two teams squared off at the Central Park Sports Facility Monday, March 12, and Lycoming triumphed 9-4 with Lansberry going the distance in the circle, allowing eight hits and two earned runs. She struck out six and walked three.
Clark made her debut for the Lady Eagles as the designated hitter with a single and a walk in four plate appearances.
When the two teams met again Thursday, Lycoming erased a 9-3 deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Clarion answered with three runs in the top of the eighth and held on for a 12-11 win.
Clark was hitless but scored twice, including the go-ahead run in the eighth after being placed at second base via the international tiebreaker rule.
Lansberry, who relieved with the bases loaded during Clarion’s six-run fifth inning, suffered the setback, her second in four decisons. She worked 3.1 innings and gave up nine hits and four runs, two earned. Her stat line included three strikeouts, one walk and one hit batsman.
Lansberry’s other win was 8-4 over Eureka (Ill.) on Tuesday. She pitched 6.1 innings with five strikeouts and seven walks, surrendering six hits.
Her first loss was 7-5 to Concord (W.Va.) Wednesday in a six-inning stint with seven strikeouts and three walks. Concord got to her for 10 hits and four earned runs.
Both Clarion and Concord, which also beat Lycoming 4-0 Thursday, are NCAA Division II teams.
The Lady Warriors, who compete in Division III, finished 5-3, including pairs of wins over Eureka and Principia (Iowa).
Lansberry also started in left field in two games and had four hits for a .222 average. She scored five runs and drove in two.
Clark got six starts in left field for Clarion, which also returned north with a 5-3 record, and registered three consecutive two-hit games.
She had a big day Wednesday with four hits, five RBIs and five runs scored in a nine-inning, 10-9 loss to Arcadia and an 18-9 victory over Robert Mortis-Springfield (Ill.).
Clark ended the Spring Break Trip with a .320 average and two doubles and a triple among her eight safeties.
She drew three walks, was hit once and scored eight runs.
