BASEBALL
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Clearfield Area High School grad Adam Jury of Bigler kept his batting average above .400 with five hits in Slippery Rock\’s pair of weekend twinbills with Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division rival Indiana.
The sophomore shortstop-designated hitter was very instrumental in The Rock\’s first-game 7-6 home victory Saturday, driving in four runs with a pair of singles and scoring the winning run.
After his one-out, two-run single to right center tied the game in the bottom of the seventh inning, Jury stopped at third on Derek Diruscia\’s double to left and then dashed to the plate on a wild pitch.
In Friday\’s 12-1 nightcap win at Indiana Friday, Jury singled and doubled and drove in three runs, one with a sacrifice fly.
The Rock (19-9) lost the other two games to the Crimson Hawks, 5-1 on Friday and 12-8 on Saturday, for a 7-5 record that is fourth in the PSAC-West.
Jury, who went into the weekend No. 8 in the PSAC and No. 78 in NCAA Division II with a .425 average, now owns a .414 average with 36 hits, including seven doubles and two home runs, and 28 RBIs. He has 10 walks and has been hit twice.
His average is second on the team behind Matt Adams\’ lofty .495 average (52-for-105).
The junior catcher from Philipsburg was No. 1 in the PSAC and No. 11 in D-II at .484 going into the home-and-home series with IUP. He also ranks among the conference and national leaders in doubles (14), home runs (9) and RBIs (44).
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BRADFORD, Pa. – Junior right fielder Bart McGary of Curwensville raised his batting average 15 points with three hits in Pitt-Bradford\’s four games last week.
He had a perfect day Sunday with three singles and three walks, but the Panthers dropped both games to Pitt-Greensburg, 7-3 and 17-6, to fall to 2-2 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference and 6-7 overall.
McGary doubled his RBI total by driving in two runs in the nightcap.
McGary, who was hitless in a 6-4 win over Brockport (N.Y.) State Tuesday and a 5-0 loss to Allegheny Wednesday, sports a .265 average with nine hits, including one home run. He has reached base eight times on walks and twice when hit by a pitch.
Former Curwensville Area High School teammate Phil Solley of Grampian had two hits in 14 trips to the plate, his average falling to .250 (10-for-40). The junior catcher has six RBIs.
In the field, McGary has handled 20 chances flawlessly while Solley has only one error in 63 chances for a .984 average. Solley has thrown out six runners on steal attempts.
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SOFTBALL
ALTOONA, Pa. – Freshman second baseman Alanna Luzier of Frenchville (Clearfield Area H.S.) had hits in five consecutive games for Penn State-Altoona as the Lady Lions began Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference play with a 2-2 record and went 2-4 overall last week.
Penn State-Altoona (3-9) halted an eight-game skid with a pair of five-inning, 10-2 AMCC wins over Hilbert Saturday.
The Lady Lions lost 11-1 and 21-9 in five-inning AMCC games against Pitt-Greensburg Wednesday and then bowed 8-0 in five innings and 7-1 at Juniata Friday.
Luzier doubled, walked and scored two runs in the first game against Hilbert. Her hitting streak ended in the nightcap, but she did contribute with a sacrifice fly for her third RBI of the season.
She leads the Lady Lions with six of their 12 stolen bases, is second in hits (12) and runs (9) and third in batting at .333.
In addition, Luzier is doing a good job on defense with only one error in 32 chances.
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LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Sophomore Brittany Pataky of Clearfield made one pinch-hitting appearance for Lock Haven last week.
The Lady Eagles, who jumped from No. 15 to No. 9 in the latest NCAA Division II rankings, opened their Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Central Division schedule by sweeping host Mansfield 9-0 in six innings and 2-1 on Tuesday.
They followed up by edging Mercyhurst 3-1 and 2-0 Saturday to extended their home winning streak to 61 games.
Lock Haven has won 13 games in a row for a 19-4 record.
Kristen Erb (18-3) was named PSAC-Central Pitcher of the Week for the third consecutive week. In her four wins, including a perfect game with 13 strikeouts and a one-hitter with nine strikeouts against Mansfield, she worked 27 innings, allowing seven hits and two runs with 34 strikeouts and two walks.
Pataky, in 11 games, has two hits in 14 official at-bats. She has drawn two walks and been hit twice.
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WOMEN\’S TRACK & FIELD
CALIFORNIA, Pa. – Westminster senior Rebecca Shiner of Clearfield finished second in the 800-meter run and helped the 4×400 relay team place third in the 14-team Western Pennsylvania Track & Field Championships at California University\’s Adamson Stadium Saturday.
She posted her best time of the outdoor season, 2:24.98, to chase winner Emily Pietrocha (2:24.41) of Grove City across the line in a race that had 28 entries from nine schools.
Shiner ran the second leg in the relay event as the Westminster quartet registered a 4:14.26. A dozen teams started the race.
The Titans claimed Division III honors with 200 points, outdistancing runner-up Juniata (152) and five other teams.
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MEN\’S TRACK & FIELD
CALIFORNIA, Pa. – Freshman Ryan Jones of Clearfield competed in two events for Westminster in the 14-team Western Pennsylvania Track & Field Championships at California University\’s Adamson Stadium Saturday.
He placed 13th with a 2:04.13 time in the 800-meter run, which drew 31 runners from 11 schools, and ran the third leg for the Titan 4×400 relay team that recorded a 3:32.34 to finish seventh. The event had 13 foursomes.
The Titans earned 73 points for fifth place among the seven Division III teams.
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WHEELING, W.Va. – Sophomore John Bowman of Clearfield placed in two field events as Penn State-Behrend opened the outdoor season by finishing second to host Wheeling Jesuit in the nine-team 2009 Bill Van Horne Invitational Saturday.
Bowman hurled the javelin 46.29 meters to earn sixth place and threw the discus 35.25 meters for 12th place. The events had 24 and 22 competitors, respectively.
The Lions accumulated 131 points to take runner-up honors. Wheeling Jesuit won the title with 146 points.
