News and notes about Muhlenberg athletics
|
SOFTBALL TOP SEED IN ECAC TOURNEY
The Muhlenberg softball team received the top
seed for the 1999 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III
South championship, held on May 15-16 at Dickinson College. The
results for the double-elimination four-team tournament are listed at right.
Muhlenberg was awarded the top seed after playing a challenging schedule
that included 20 games against teams invited to the NCAA Tournament. The
Mules played in the postseason for the first time since
making the last of four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in 1992.
Softball was the third ECAC Tournament of the school year for
Muhlenberg. In the fall, women's soccer and field hockey received bids,
with women's soccer winning the championship.
GOLF TEAM EARNS NCAA TOURNAMENT BID
The Muhlenberg College golf team has received a bid to the
1999 NCAA Division III Tournament, to be held May 17-20 at Taconic Golf
Club in Williamstown, Mass. The Mules, who will golf in the national
tournament for the first time ever, received the bid after winning their
second Centennial Conference championship in three years. Muhlenberg was one of 23 schools selected from
six regional districts for the NCAA
Tournament. Golf is the fourth Muhlenberg team sport, along with men's
soccer and men's and women's basketball, to qualify for the NCAA
Tournament the last two years. In addition, the wrestling team sent three
individuals to the nationals this winter.
BILLIE, KENNY EARN ALL-REGION HONORS
Two Muhlenberg female athletes whose last names are also
male first names have been named to the All-Region team in their
respective sports. Senior catcher Elizabeth Billie (right) of the
softball team was named to the All-East Region first team for the
second straight year and will receive strong consideration for
All-America honors. Billie, a third-team All-Region selection her first
two years and the Centennial Conference player of the year, is hitting .450
with 31 RBI. Senior Katie Kenny
(left) of the lacrosse team earned a spot
on the All-Metro Region second team after setting school records for
career goals (152) and
points (183) and season goals (50). The first player in team history to
earn first-team All-Centennial Conference honors, Kenny also has been
invited to participate in the Division III North/South All-Star Game in
Baltimore on June 12.
Click here for a complete list of spring honorees.
|
|
Saturday, May 15
SOFTBALL ECAC South Tournament:
GAME 1 Bethany 6, Muhlenberg 0
GAME 2 King's 5, Dickinson 4 (8 innings)
GAME 3 Muhlenberg 7, Dickinson 2
GAME 4 King's 5, Bethany 4
The Mules dropped their first game of the tournament, but came back to
eliminate host Dickinson and advance to the second day. Senior SHELLY
MARKOWITZ had two of Muhlenberg's eight hits in the opener, giving her an
even 100 for her career. She is the 10th player in team history to reach
the century mark, and half of them have come from this year's senior
class. The Mules broke out in the second game
by scoring two runs in each of the first three innings and tying a school
record with eight stolen bases. Senior ALI HATOLA scored twice and stole a
school-record-tying three bases (for the fifth time), raising her
career steals total to
99. Junior CRISTINA GENNA hit a two-run single, stole home, made
two nice catches in right field and threw out a runner attempting to
advance. Freshman LORI BLANCHFIELD and Markowitz had a pair of
steals
apiece. Freshman ANGIE TYSON struck out five and allowed seven
hits and only one earned run to pick up her 12th win of the season. Click here for line scores.
Sunday, May 16
SOFTBALL ECAC South Tournament:
GAME 5 Muhlenberg 8, Bethany 5
GAME 6 King's 1, Muhlenberg 0
Michelle Patches pitched a one-hit shutout in the title game to give
King's the 1999 ECAC South championship. Muhlenberg advanced to the final
by twice coming from behind to defeat Bethany in what was a historic
game for seniors ALI HATOLA and ELIZABETH BILLIE. Hatola stole her 100th
base in the third to achieve a milestone reached by only 11 players in
Division III history prior to this season. She singled in the go-ahead
run in the Mules' four-run rally in the bottom of the sixth, then capped
the inning by scoring her school-record 114th career run. Billie's
two-run double in the third gave her a school-record 82 career RBI.
Junior MELISSA NARDI singled in a run in the third and began the winning
rally by singling to lead off the sixth. In the championship game, junior
HEATHER DREBY pitched a six-hitter but was the hard-luck loser, as a
two-out single in the fifth by junior CHRISTINE BIECHY was the Mules'
lone hit. Click here for line scores.
Monday, May 17 - Thursday, May 20
GOLF Muhlenberg finished 18th at NCAA Championships.
Muhlenberg shot its poorest round of the tournament, a 326, on the final
day to finish in 18th place -- the best showing by a Centennial
Conference team since Gettysburg placed 17th in 1994. The Mules were seven
strokes behind Susquehanna, one of their regional rivals, but finished
eight strokes ahead of New Jersey. Methodist won its sixth consecutive
national championship, outshooting UC San Diego by 27 strokes. Sophomore
MATT BERMAN had a 72-hole total of 315, tying for 53rd in the field of
120 golfers. Junior MATT DEIBERT had the Mules' best round of the
tournament, a 76 in the first round. Click here for complete results.
|
