Muhlenberg College 2001 Spring Sports Update

Muhlenberg College

2001 Spring Sports Update

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For the Week of April 23 to April 29
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News and notes about Muhlenberg athletics

SOFTBALL IN PLAYOFFS
The Muhlenberg softball team has clinched a berth in the first Centennial Conference Tournament, which will be held April 28-29 at Western Maryland (28-4). The other two teams in the tournament will be Gettysburg (21-8) and Ursinus (26-10). That should come as no surprise, since those four schools have combined to win every CC championship. The Mules (20-15) finished in a three-way tie for second place and will be the third seed. The winner of the CC Tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. The tournament schedule is as follows (games will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the previous game):

Saturday, April 28
(1) Muhlenberg vs. Ursinus, 10:00
(2) Western Maryland vs. Gettysburg
(3) loser of (1) vs. loser of (2)
(4) winner of (1) vs. winner of (2)
Sunday, April 29
(5) winner of (3) vs. loser of (4), 12:00
(6) winner of (4) vs. winner of (5)
(7) replay of (6), if necessary

MULE DUO TOP SEED IN CC TOURNAMENT
The Muhlenberg men’s tennis duo of senior Robby Richman and sophomore Brad Scheller is the top seed in the Centennial Conference Tournament, which will be held at Franklin & Marshall April 27-29. The twosome went 10-2 during the regular season, including a 6-1 mark in CC matches, and is scheduled to open tournament play against Gettysburg’s No. 2 doubles team. Richman also is the second seed in the singles draw. The women’s No. 1 doubles team of freshman Mackenzie Parke (left) and junior Jennifer Chung is seeded second, while Parke earned a No. 5 seed for the singles tourney. To follow the action, click here, then go to 2001, April and Middle States.

LUONGO NAMED PITCHER OF WEEK

Senior Paul Luongo has been Centennial Conference pitcher of the week after tossing two complete-game victories in a four-day span. He allowed only eight hits and walked just one over nine innings against Dickinson, then five-hit Franklin & Marshall. For the week, Luongo pitched 16 innings, allowing 13 hits and three runs. He leads the Mule pitching staff with a 4-1 record and 2.73 ERA.

ELSON QUALIFIES FOR NATIONALS
Junior Will Elson qualified for the NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships this week without even lacing up his sneakers. The NCAA adjusted the provisional qualifying standard for the 800 meters to 1:53.74, up from 1:52.74. Elson, shown here winning the 800 at the 2000 Centennial Conference Championships, ran a 1:53.01 last weekend at the Lafayette Invitational. That is believed to be the fourth-best time in Division III this season. The automatic qualifying standard is 1:51.66. Elson becomes the second Mule to qualify for the NCAAs. Senior high jumper Katrina Beck has met the provisional standard of 1.64 meters (5-4½) and needs to jump 1.68 (5-6) to qualify automatically. Her current best height of 1.66 meters (5-5¼) is the 12th-best in Division III. The NCAA Championships are scheduled to be held May 24-26 at Millikin University in Decatur, Ill.

Monday, April 23
SOFTBALL Muhlenberg 8, Swarthmore 0. Freshman Danielle DeLucia pitched a three-hitter for her second shutout of the season and drove in two runs to lead Muhlenberg to the win in the second game of a doubleheader that began on April 10. The win moves the Mules into a three-way tie for second place in the Centennial Conference heading into Tuesday’s regular-season finales. DeLucia finished off her gem by striking out the last four batters, the last three looking. Freshmen Jaclyn Maser and Amanda Ibey each had three hits and drove in a pair of runs. Click here for line score.
MEN’S GOLF tied for fourth at York Invitational. The Mules’ B team finished just 10 strokes off the lead in a makeup of a match rained out on March 19. Freshman Jay Pardini shot a 7-over-79 to tie for seventh place. Click here for complete results.

Tuesday, April 24
SOFTBALL Ursinus 3, Muhlenberg 1; Muhlenberg 8, Ursinus 0. Freshman Danielle DeLucia pitched a one-hitter in the nightcap for her second shutout in as many days as Muhlenberg closed its regular season with the split. Junior Elizabeth Kostelnick, who recorded her 100th career hit in the first game, drove in three runs in the nightcap, including a game-ending single in the bottom of the fifth. Sophomore Kelly Berg had a two-run single in that inning. The win was the 20th of the season for the Mules, marking the sixth time in school history they have reached that level. Click here for line scores.
WOMEN’S GOLF at Kutztown Invitational. Muhlenberg sent three golfers to this match. Freshman Erin DeVaney finished in 10th place with a 141.
MEN’S GOLF finished second at Lehigh Valley Tournament. Senior Matt Berman won medalist honors for the second time this spring with a 76, one stroke better than two Lafayette golfers. Five other Mules carded an 83. Muhlenberg had the same team score as Lafayette but won second place on the sixth-man tiebreaker. The Mules finished seven strokes ahead of Moravian, and that, combined with the women’s tennis win, enabled Muhlenberg to tie Moravian in the final Matte Award standings for the 2000-01 school year. Click here for complete results.
WOMEN’S TENNIS Muhlenberg 9, Moravian 0. The Mules tied a school record with their 11th win of the season by blanking their local rivals, who play their regular season in the fall. Senior Kerri Waldowski, playing in the final home match of her career, recorded an 8-3 win at No. 2 singles and teamed with freshman Sarah Niebler for an 8-1 victory at No. 2 doubles. Freshman Megan Schreiber won her 11th straight singles match, tying a school record with her 12th win of the spring. Click here for box score.

Wednesday, April 25
LACROSSE Susquehanna 14, Muhlenberg 8. The Mules trailed the fifth-ranked team in the region by only two early in the second half, but went down to defeat in their last game of the season. Sophomore Lynsey Caldwell tied a school record with 4 assists. Senior Miruna Lovin scored 3 goals, ending her career with a school-record 195 points. Click here for box score.
WOMEN’S TENNIS Washington (Md.) 6, Muhlenberg 3. The Mules lost in three sets at each of the top two singles spots and dropped their final match of the season. Muhlenberg’s singles winners were freshman Megan Schreiber, who set a school record with her 13th win of the season, and junior Jennifer Chung, who tied a school record with her 22nd win (combined singles and doubles) of the season. Click here for box score.
MEN’S TENNIS Washington (Md.) 7, Muhlenberg 0. The Mules won only 11 games against the second-ranked team in the country and lost for the first time in six Centennial Conference matches. Click here for box score.

Thursday, April 26
BASEBALL Muhlenberg 15, Swarthmore 9. All eight Muhlenberg seniors who played contributed to the win in their final home game. John Ziegler pitched five innings to earn his first win of the season. Garret Pachtinger, David Wolf and Dylan Sapir each drove in two runs, while James Barski scored twice. Marcus Mattielli plated a run with a sacrifice fly, and Seth Weinstein pitched the ninth inning, striking out two. Finally, Michael Cirillo had three assists from shortstop to tie the school record of 104 in a season. Junior Joshua Carter stole three bases and scored two runs to become the second player in team history to cross home plate 100 times. Click here for line score.

Saturday, April 28
SOFTBALL Muhlenberg 5, Ursinus 3; Muhlenberg 3, Gettysburg 2. Muhlenberg went 2-0 on the first day of the Centennial Conference Tournament to advance to the championship game. The Mules will face the winner of the Ursinus-Gettysburg contest. Freshman Amanda Ibey had big hits in both games for Muhlenberg. In the opener, her first career home run, a two-run blast over the center field fence, gave the Mules a 4-1 lead in the third. Junior Elizabeth Kostelnick singled in an insurance run in the fourth, and freshman Danielle DeLucia slammed the door with four innings of shutout relief. In the second game, Ibey broke up a no-hitter in the fifth with a triple, then scored on a throwing error. Kostelnick doubled in the game-winning runs in the bottom of the sixth. In the other games, Gettysburg defeated top seed and tournament host Western Maryland, 6-5 in 10 innings, and Ursinus eliminated the Green Terror with a 4-3, nine-inning win. Click here for line scores.
BASEBALL Muhlenberg 7, Johns Hopkins 6; Johns Hopkins 15, Muhlenberg 4. The Mules delayed Johns Hopkins’ clinching of the Centennial Conference championship by winning the first game, but the Blue Jays won the nightcap to capture their first title since 1998. The first game was tied 3-3 in the sixth before junior Joshua Carter hit a two-run single. Muhlenberg had a 7-3 lead cut to 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh, but senior Tim Haberbusch got the final out to earn the complete-game win in his final career start. Click here for line scores.
MEN’S GOLF at Centennial Conference Championships. Muhlenberg holds a commanding 27-stroke lead after the first two rounds of the CC Championships. The Mules shot a 309 in the first round and a 308 in the second. Senior Matt Berman sits atop the leader board with a 36-hole total of 149.
WOMEN’S TENNIS at Centennial Conference Individual Championships. Senior Kerri Waldowski closed out her career by advancing to the quarterfinals before losing in straight sets to the No. 1 seed. The second-seeded doubles team of freshman Mackenzie Parke and junior Jennifer Chung was ousted in the quarterfinals. Click here for Muhlenberg results.
MEN’S TENNIS at Centennial Conference Individual Championships. The Mules’ No. 1 doubles team of senior Robby Richman and sophomore Brad Scheller advanced to the championship match. The duo defeated teams from Johns Hopkins, Washington and Franklin & Marshall and will face another Washington twosome in the final. Richman made it to the singles quarterfinals and came back from a 5-2 deficit to win 7-5 in the second set, but dropped the third set. Click here for Muhlenberg results.
TRACK AND FIELD at TCNJ Lions’ Invitational. Muhlenberg low-keyed it in its final tuneup for the Centennial Conference Championships. The top individual finishers were senior Katrina Beck (second place in the high jump), junior Will Elson (third in the 400), freshman Richard Kipp (third in the 800) and junior Jim Hayes (third in the javelin). Click here for Muhlenberg highlights.

Sunday, April 29
SOFTBALL Muhlenberg 3, Gettysburg 2. Freshman Danielle DeLucia pitched a four-hitter for her third tournament win as Muhlenberg edged Gettysburg in the championship game of the Centennial Conference Tournament. The Mules, who entered the four-team tournament as the third seed, win their second consecutive title earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, which begins May 11 at regional sites to be determined. DeLucia surrendered a two-run homer in the top of the first, but settled down to win her third game in two days. She also singled to start a two-run rally in the third that tied the game. Freshman Kate Dischino singled home classmate Jaclyn Maser with the game-winning run in the fourth. Gettysburg advanced to the championship game by defeating Ursinus, 6-4. The six tournament games, held at Western Maryland, were decided by a total of eight runs. Click here for line score.
WOMEN’S GOLF finished first at Centennial Conference Championships. Muhlenberg won the inaugural CC championship, with a two-round total of 922, 12 strokes ahead of second-place Gettysburg. Dickinson was third with a 952, followed by Ursinus (1026). Western Maryland and Franklin & Marshall did not field complete teams. Junior Jenn Risley shot a 200 over 36 holes to finish in second place, while freshman Erin DeVaney placed seventh with a 232.
MEN’S GOLF finished first at Centennial Conference Championships. Senior Matt Berman shot a 232 over 54 holes to earn medalist honors and lead Muhlenberg to its third CC championship in five years. The Mules tied Ursinus in 1997 and won outright in 1999. Muhlenberg had a three-round total of 940, easily outscoring second-place Gettysburg (973). The Mules shot the best two rounds of the tournament, 309 and 308, respectively, in the first two rounds to open up a commanding 27-stroke lead heading into the final round. Berman, who finished fifth at the 1999 CC Tournament, is the first Muhlenberg player to finish atop the leaderboard at a conference championship meet since Bruce Miller in 1990. Freshmen Jesse Neider (second) and Matt Katz (fourth) and senior Steven Moore (sixth) also finished in the top 10. Click here for complete results.
MEN’S TENNIS at Centennial Conference Individual Championships. The Muhlenberg doubles team of senior Robby Richman and sophomore Brad Scheller dropped the championship match to a Washington team, 6-3, 6-4. The duo finished the season with a record of 13-3. Richman ended his outstanding career with a record of 84-41-2. Click here for Muhlenberg results.

Questions or comments? Send mail to falk@muhlenberg.edu

Last updated April 29, 2001