April 22-23 college recaps
EDINBORO MEN’S TENNIS WINS PSAC CHAMPIONSHIP
The Edinboro University Fighting Scots captured their third straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Men’s Tennis Team Championship after defeating the Mercyhurst Lakers, 4-0, in a sweep of Sunday’s tournament final.
The Fighting Scots opened the match strong, clinching the lone doubles point with wins from No. 1 doubles Sabio/Palombarini (6-2) and No. 3 doubles Acuna/Sacchi (6-2).
In singles action, Edinboro continued to dominate the competition by claiming the next three singles matches in straight sets. First to finish was No. 3 singles Manav Sreekumar, who beat Hristo Plasheski 6-2, 6-3. No. 5 singles Thibault Dorval followed next, taking a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Colm Schultz. The match was then clinched by No. 2 singles Ruben Acuna when he defeated Noha De Sousa Pereira 6-4, 6-1 to claim the fourth and final point of the day. Acuna was awarded the 2023 PSAC Men’s Tennis Team Tournament MVP for his role in the win.
This year’s championship completes Edinboro’s second three-peat within the last decade—also winning in 2014, 2015, and 2016—and makes it their eighth conference title in program history.
IUP CLAIMS PSAC WOMEN’S TENNIS CROWN
The IUP women’s tennis team secured its third consecutive PSAC Women’s Tennis Team Championship with a 4-1 victory over Slippery Rock on Sunday afternoon. Sunday’s match began with doubles action, with IUP getting victories from Katy Graydon/Karoline Kirchtag (No. 1, 6-2) and Natalie Kmoskova/Joanna Stralka (No. 2, 6-4) to earn the doubles point.
In singles action, Slippery Rock earned the first point thanks to a Gabriela del Val del Toro win over Kmoskova at No. 2 singles 6-2, 6-2. IUP fought back to claim the next three singles matches: No. 5 singles from IUP’s Lydia Vlachou over Tina Slovak 6-4, 7-5, No. 3 from Joanna Stralka 7-6 (7-3 tiebreak), 6-2 over Dari Sakhanova, and No. 4 Katy Graydon clinched the championship with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Nuria Martin Lopez. Graydon earned the 2023 PSAC Women’s Tennis Tournament MVP award for her efforts.
The 2023 title is IUP’s fifth all-time, and all have come in recent years, as the Crimson Hawks have won five of the last six PSAC championships.
WESTMINSTER CLAIMS PAC WOMEN’S GOLF CROWN
Led by four All-PAC players, Westminster College led from the opening round in the fall all the way through the spring to capture its fifth consecutive Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Women’s Golf championship.
The two rounds in the spring were played at Mill Creek Golf Course in Boardman, Ohio, on the Donald Ross-designed North Course, a 5650-yard, par-72 layout.
In addition to being the Titans’ fifth straight conference crown, it’s also their seventh in program history. As this year’s PAC team champion, Westminster secured the league’s automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. Team selections will be announced Monday, May 1. The Division III Championship is scheduled for May 9-12 at the Mission Inn Resort and Club in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida.
Westminster concluded its 72-hole championship run with a team score of 1332. The Titans followed up Friday’s 328 with a 330 on Saturday to post a two-round spring total of 658. Last fall, Westminster registered a 36-hole team score of 674 (341-333), with both rounds being played at the Avalon Golf and Country Club’s Squaw Creek Golf Course in Vienna, Ohio.
Washington & Jefferson College was the runner-up with a team score of 1404, while Allegheny College took third at 1446. In fourth place was Thiel College (1480), followed by Geneva College in fifth (1578), Grove City College in sixth (1659) and Franciscan University in seventh (1825). Waynesburg University competed as individuals this spring after playing two full rounds in the fall.
Westminster’s championship effort was led by the top three individual scorers this spring. Senior Kasey Clifford (Ocean City, N.J./ Ocean City) claimed her third PAC Player of the Year award after carding a 155 this weekend. She followed up her 76 on Friday with a 79 Saturday and finished the four championship rounds with an individual score of 318. Clifford fired a 163 (87-76) last fall.
W&J WINS PAC MEN’S GOLF TITLE
BOARDMAN, Ohio – Sitting in third place and trailing by 13 shots entering Saturday’s final round, Washington & Jefferson College stormed back by shooting 292 over the final 18 holes to claim the 2023 Presient’s Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Saturday.
The final two rounds were played at Mill Creek Golf Course in Boardman, Ohio, with teams playing the Donald Ross-designed South Course, a 6526-yard, par-70 layout.
The team title is the 21st in W&J program history and the first since 2019-20. W&J will be making its ninth appearance at the NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championships, which are scheduled for May 16-19 at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky.
W&J had entered the final round 13 shots back of Allegheny College and in third place in the team standings. The Presidents carded a team score of 292 in the final round to capture the team title by the slimmest of margins. W&J totaled a score of 596 during the 36-hole spring competition, which outpaced both Allegheny (604) and Westminster (610) en route to the comeback.
The numbers during the spring rounds gave the Presidents a final team score of 1211, one shot ahead of Allegheny (1212) and two in front of Westminster (1213), who had a five-stroke advantage following the two Fall rounds of the Championships, which were played at the Avalon Lakes Golf Course in Warren, Ohio, in October.
Grove City College finished in fourth place for the Championships with a score of 1296, followed by Saint Vincent College (1302), Geneva College (1305), Waynesburg University (1359) and Thiel College (1394). Bethany College did not field a full team in the fall, but shot 853 over the two rounds in the spring.
Allegheny College sophomore and North East High School grad Carter Hassenplug earned PAC MVP accolades after earning individual medalist honors across the 72-hole conference championship tournament. Hassenplug fired a 4-over 144 (74-70) at the PAC Spring Championships. Combined with his 3-over 147 (73-74) from the fall portion of the PAC tournament in mid-October, the second-year linksman finished the conference championship with a cumulative 291.
BASEBALL SCORES
APRIL 23
Seton Hill 3, Slippery Rock 1
Seton Hill 5, Slippery Rock 3
In the 3-1 loss for Slippery Rock, A three-run third inning proved to be the difference in a 3-1 Seton Hill victory in the opener. Both starting pitchers – The Rock’s Luke Trueman and Seton Hill’s Aidan Layton – were sharp in game one as Trueman (5-3) pitched his fourth complete game of the season with six hits and no walks surrendered in addition to throwing six strikeouts and giving up the three runs while Layton (5-1), who took a shutout into the fifth, gave up just one run over six innings. Complementing his great outing on the mound, Trueman also went 1-for-3 at the plate with his hit being of the triple variety.
In the 5-3 game, a mid-game rally fell just short as Seton Hill closed out the series sweep with a 5-3 victory in game two. Seton Hill led 3-0 following three completed innings. SRU and SHU proceeded to trade home runs over the next two innings with Cam Panyko Morris launching his second of the season in the fourth only for Jack Oberdorf to stretch Seton Hill’s lead back out to three runs with a leadoff homer in the fifth. The Rock’s rally continued in the bottom of the fifth as Koby Bubash slugged a run-scoring triple which plated Alex Robenolt from first followed an inning later by Panyko Morris sending a triple of his own to right field and later scoring on a balk to trim Seton Hill’s lead to just one run at 4-3 after six innings.
Mercyhurst 3, Cal (Pa.) 1, 13 innings (completion of suspended game)
Mercyhurst 9, Cal (Pa.) 2
Cal (Pa.) 7, Mercyhurst 4
Aiden Kelly picked up win number three of the season in game one for Mercyhurst, going five innings while giving up one run with six strikeouts to his line. John Susnik put together another strong day, going 3-7 in his two games with his second home run of the series in game two of the day. Luke Jackson had the other of the team’s two homers, going 2-7 overall on day two of the series, helping extend his hitting streak to eight games.
Penn State DuBois 9, Penn State New Kensington 3
Penn State DuBois 11, Penn State New Kensington 1
In the 9-3 Game 1 win for DuBois, Lakeview grad Brett Beith had two doubles and two RBIs and Bryce Dobson had two RBIs. Zach Tiracorda, allowing three runs in six innings.
In the 11-1 win for DuBois, Brookville grad Tanner LaBenne hit a solo home run, while Grant Lillard was 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Elk County Catholic grad Taylor Boland got the win, allowing one run in four innings, and striking out seven.
SOFTBALL SCORES
APRIL 23
Mercyhurst 10, IUP 1
Mercyhurst 6, IUP 1
In the 10-1 Mercyhurst win, Allison Dejidas hit a solo home run and Union City grad Eliza Reynolds was 2-for-3 with a double, and Brianne Egelston was 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Mikaela Schramski got the win, allowing one run in six innings, and striking out seven.
In the 6-1 Mercyhurst win, Dejidas and Marisa Cartellone both homered, while Reynolds had two RBIs. Morgan Hilty got the win, allowing one unearned run and striking out a pair.
Seton Hill 14, Gannon 4
Gannon 5, Seton Hill 4
Trailing 3-0 in game number two against Seton Hill after a 14-4 loss in the opener, the Gannon softball team possibly saw its PSAC playoff hopes slippinf away. That’s before Natalia Mallozzistepped to the plate and drilled a game-tying three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth and Abbey Girman hit the game-winning double over the head of the center fielder with two outs in the seventh. The end result was a 5-4 win in game number two against the PSAC West-leading Griffins (25-13, 18-6 PSAC West) and a split of Sunday’s doubleheader.
Edinboro 3, Clarion 2
Edinboro 12, Clarion 11
The Edinboro softball team won a pair of games over visiting Clarion in contrasting styles Sunday afternoon at the Edinboro Softball Field.
Cheyenne Shughart led an offensive explosion in the second game belting three home runs as the Scots rallied for a 12-11 victory in the second game. In the opener, Edinboro won in walk-off fashion 3-2.
In game one, Allison Gilliam tied the game in the top of the sixth with a two-run home run. In the bottom of the seventh, Kayla Terwilliger doubled with one out and then scored on a pair of wild pitches to give the Scots the 3-2 win.
Clearfield grad Emma Hipps took the loss in a 3-2 game, allowing one earned run in 6 ⅓ innings on three hits and one walk, striking out four.
Penn State DuBois 6, Penn State New Kensington 4
Penn State New Kensington 9, Penn State DuBois 7
In the 6-4 DuBois win, Warren grad Kelsey Stuart fired four scoreless innings of relief to get the win, allowing just two hits and striking out five. Jordan Bundy was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Stuart was 3-for-4 with an RBI.
In the 9-6 setback for DuBois, Hanna Richey drove in three runs and Abby Pentz two. Stuart took the loss, allowing five runs (three earned) in two innings.
