SOFTBALL
WILLIAMSPORT – Junior pitcher/outfielder Holly Lansberry of Curwensville extended her hitting streak to 12 games, the longest by a Lycoming Lady Warrior since the turn of the century, and split two Commonwealth Conference decisions in the circle last week.
The Lady Warriors’ lead-off batter, who was named Lycoming women’s Athlete-of-the-Week for her two-hit games against Messiah the previous week, went 8-for17 in five games to raise her average from .314 to .353, which tops the team and ranks in the top 20 in the conference.
She also walked twice, was hit by a pitch two times, stole three bases and scored five runs as Lycoming went 2-3.
Lansberry began the week with three hits, two of them doubles, and two RBIs against Juniata at Huntingdon in a 12-9 non-conference setback that left Lycoming with a 13-game winless streak.
She followed up with singles in 10-2 and 3-0 conference victories over Arcadia Saturday and a 3-2 loss to Albright Sunday before closing the week with a single and a double in an eight-inning, 7-5 loss to Albright.
Lansberry (3-7) pitched two complete games, getting the win in the Arcadia opener with a three-hitter. She struck out four, walked three, hit one batter and allowed one earned run.
In the first game against Albright the next day, Lansberry absorbed the one-run loss, allowing seven hits and two earned runs in seven innings. She had three strikeouts and hit one batter in her ninth start.
Lansberry lowered her earned run average from 6.70 to 4.35 with those performances. She has recorded 38 strikeouts with 23 walks and four hit batsman while surrendering 77 hits and 45 runs, 34 earned.
Lansberry missed a great chance for a win when the nightcap at Juniata was halted because of darkness with the Lady Warriors leading 10-4. She had struck out four and allowed six hits in four innings.
Lycoming is 7-18 with a 2-6 conference record.
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CLARION – Freshman outfielder Sara Clark of Curwensville had five hits, including a triple, for Clarion (8-26, 0-12) last week and is hitting .275 in her rookie season.
She tripled and scored on Rebecca Lynch’s home run to jump-start the Golden Eagles’ 6-3 win over Salem (W.Va.) International on Monday, April 9, that snapped a 12-game losing streak.
Three of her singles came in 9-1 and 8-0 losses to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Central Division rival Lock Haven Saturday.
The Golden Eagles were beaten 7-5 and 8-0 by Mansfield in a PSAC-Central double-header Friday and are 0-12 in the conference.
In 33 games, including 32 starts, Clark has collected 28 hits, including three doubles and two triples, and driven in 10 runs.
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BASEBALL
ERIE – Sophomore relief pitcher Chad Zurat of Clearfield continues to excel as the closer for Penn State Behrend (21-7-1), picking up two more saves last week to boost his Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference-leading total to six.
The hard-throwing right-hander got the call in four of the Lions’ five games, preserving a 7-4 win against D’Youville (N.Y.) at Buffalo with two strikeouts Thursday and a 4-3 victory over visiting Pitt-Greensburg Saturday with two more strikeouts in the final inning. He did give up his third run of the season on a triple and a wild pitch in the latter game.
Zurat worked 1.2 innings with one strikeout in Penn State Behrend’s 8-4 non-conference win over Thiel on Monday, April 9, and got the final out in a 6-4 loss to Pitt-Greensburg that ended the Lions’ unbeaten streak at 15 games, including one tie.
In 12 appearances, Zurat has logged 18.1 innings with 29 strikeouts and a 1.47 earned run average.
He has issued five walks, hit two batters and allowed only nine hits.
Zurat leads the AMCC in games finished with 10 and is tied for the top spot in number of games in relief with 12.
Junior starting pitcher Mike Moyer of Clearfield lasted only 1.2 innngs in the D’Youville game, surrendering four hits and three runs. He struck out one and walked one.
Moyer has six starts in seven outings with a 3.52 ERA that ranks seventh among AMCC starting pitchers. He is tied for sixth in fewest earned runs allowed (12), seventh in the opposition’s batting average (.271) and tied for for seventh in fewest walks allowed (9).
The right-hander, who has won all three of his decisions, has given up 32 hits and 14 runs in 30.2 innings while striking out 22.
Penn State Behrend sits atop the AMCC at 10-1-1.
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ALTOONA – Freshman infielder Derek Danver of Clearfield was one of the Penn State Altoona (12-17) hitting standouts in an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference twinbill with Pitt-Bradford Saturday.
He singled three times, drove in three runs and scored a pair as the Lions clawed the Panthers 12-4 in the nightcap after losing 8-7.
Danver had two doubles, a sacrifice fly, three RBIs and one run scored in the first game.
Penn State Altoona, which swept Juniata 7- 4 and 13-12 in non-conference action Tuesday, April 10, is sixth in the AMCC at 6-6.
Danver has started every game for the Lions, 22 of the last 23 at second base, and entered the week ranked 10th in the AMCC in at-bats (98), hits (35) and RBIs (26) and No. 14 in batting average (.357). That average is third best on the team.
He has ripped eight doubles and scored 17 runs.
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BRADFORD – Sophomore outfielder/pitcher Sam Gardner of Curwensville singled twice, drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and stole one base in four games for Pitt-Bradford (11-17) last week.
The Panthers split Allegheny Mountain Athletic Conference doubleheaders with Hilbert (N.Y.) and Penn State Altoona for a 5-7 record that has then in sixth place.
Gardner, who has started the last six games for the Panthers, is hitting .320 with four runs batted in.
He has appeared in 16 games, including four in relief pitching roles early in the season. He worked 3.2 innings with four strikeouts and two walks while allowing six hits and four earned runs.
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WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD
LEWISBURG – Penn State sophomore Gwenn Porter of Clearfield placed 65th among 97 runners in the 1,500-meter run at the Bison Outdoor Classic in Bucknell’s Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium Saturday.
Her time was 4:52.65.