SELINSGROVE, Pa. — While the Susquehanna University baseball team rolled through an active week that featured five games, including a pair of Commonwealth Conference doubleheaders, in a span of six days, the Crusader softball team was just glad to be back in action after a two-week layoff that featured three rainouts.
The Crusader baseball squad returned from Florida with a 3-4 record before turning its attention to a busy slate of games that included matchups with defending Commonwealth Conference champion Elizabethtown and perennial title contender Widener. Meanwhile, the softball team had to wait out the weather as twinbills with York College and Lycoming were called off - the latter scrubbed on two separate occasions.
Both teams are eager to make a move in the league standings, as the baseball team will battle Messiah on Saturday in Grantham while the softballers will make their 2001 home debut against Juniata on Wednesday before entertaining Messiah on Saturday.
THE BASEBALL REPORT
Florida Notes
The Crusaders started the year with a 3-4 record at the Cocoa (Florida) Expo playing against Division III competition. The trip found freshmen Gerohn Lanns (Pickering, Ont./Pickering H.S.) and Josh Fuller (Lock Haven/Central Mountain H.S.) firmly entrenched in starting positions at designated hitter and right field, respectively.
Senior first baseman Lyle Hosler (Lititz/Manheim Township H.S.) and senior second baseman Chris Knickerbocker (Hampden, Maine/Hampden Academy) each finished their trip with five-game hitting streaks. Hosler left Florida hitting .474.
After not having pitched in a game in nine years, junior Matt Springman (Montoursville/Montoursville H.S.), the regular starting shortstop, pitched a scoreless inning against Catholic in the 8-5 loss. That was good enough to earn him 2 1/3 innings of relief against Misericordia to get his first career save. He came back three days later to shut down Philadelphia Biblical in the seventh to save the 4-3 game.
Many freshman got rid of their collegiate firsts in Florida. Third baseman Ben Nyce (Elliotsburg/West Perry H.S.) got his first two hits and RBIs in the 12-5 win over Misericordia on Mar. 5. Left fielder Nate Trick (Montoursville/Montoursville H.S.) also added his first hit in the game.
Lanns hit a home run for his first NCAA hit against Catholic on March 5. Fuller had two hits, two runs, and an RBI in his first start against Misercordia.
Against Philadelphia Biblical on March 8, the other rookie players all factored in. Sophomore Ben Clift (Downingtown, N.J./Blair Academy) knocked a double for his first NCAA hit. Shortstop Andrew Pratt (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood H.S.) and third baseman Bob Haile (Sunbury/Shikellamy H.S.) each had singles in the game.
Sophomore infielder Jason Yablonski (Tunkhannock/Tunkhannock Area H.S.), a transfer from Beaver College, notched his first hit as a Crusader against R.I.T. on Mar. 6.
Freshman left-hander Adam Martin (Millersville/Penn Manor H.S.) earned his first win against Philadelphia Biblical, pitching 2 1/3 innings and striking out the side in the fifth inning. Freshman right-hander Joe Guistina (Rochester, N.Y./Spencerport H.S.) struck out two in 3 2/3 innings to start the game. Freshman left-hander Adrian Bordner (Trevorton/Line Mountain H.S.) started two games in Cocoa, striking out four.
A New Era Begins
One of the final pieces of the massive athletic facility construction project on campus finally made its debut on March 19 when the relocated Harold Bollinger Field saw its first game as defending Commonwealth Conference champion Elizabethtown paid a visit.
After dropping the first-game, 5-3, junior Lee Rogers bewildered the Blue Jays, pitching a complete-game five-hitter for the 5-1 win. Rogers struck out three while only walking one, while Hosler hit a double and added the game-winning single in the third for the Crusaders. Knickerbocker's six-game hitting streak was broken in the game, however.
In Pioneer Country
The Crusaders were led into battle in Chester on Saturday behind Rogers who won his second game of the week, defeating Widener 8-6 in the first game. Rogers pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up 9 hits and 5 earned runs while striking out five and walking four. Rogers is now 2-0 with a 3.66 ERA in 19.2 innings pitched. He has given up 24 hits and struck out 13.
Still, that was more than enough for the Crusader offense that scored seven runs in the fourth and fifth innings to ensure the win. Knickerbocker went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs in the game to set up senior outfielder Josh Pahl (Northumberland/Shikellamy H.S.) who went 2-for-3 withe a triple and RBI. Pacing the attack for the Crusaders was senior third baseman Mike Sauers (Mifflinburg/Mifflinburg H.S.) went 2-for-3 with a double and triple from the nine-spot in the order.
Springman came in the game in the seventh, garnering three fly ball outs for his third save of the year. Springman has still yet to give up an earned run this season.
In the second game, Widener shut down the Crusaders 10-0. Knickerbocker knocked a double for his team-leading fifth of the year. He is now batting .361 (13-for 36) with nine runs and nine runs batted in.
Sauers added a single to finish his day 3-for-6. He is now batting .320 (8-for-25) with five runs scored, two doubles, a triple, and five runs batted in.
Hosler went hitless in the doubleheader, 0-for-5. However, he reached base three times, twice by walking, and once by getting hit. His .475 on base percentage is second on the team to Zook's .528. Hosler is hitting .364 (12-for-33) with a team-leading 10 runs and eight runs batted in. Zook is leading the team in hitting with a .370 average (10-for 27), nine runs, and a team-high 11 RBIs.
THE SOFTBALL REPORT
The Crusaders split a Commonwealth Conference doubleheader at Widener on Saturday, winning the opener 5-2 behind the complete-game effort of senior right-hander Kristen Hogan and dropping the nightcap 3-0 as the squad accumulated just three singles against Pioneer sophomore April Ziegler.
The big stick on the afternoon belonged to junior third baseman Shelly Zimmerman (Denver, Pa./Garden Spot H.S.), who went 4-for-7 with a triple and her first career home run in the top of the seventh inning of the first game. Zimmerman leads the team with two triples and has ripped four of the Crusaders' seven extra-base hits this season.
Hogan (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury H.S.) notched her 36th career victory by striking out nine against Widener — increasing her school-record strikeout total to 375. Hogan is just seven wins shy of tying the Susquehanna career record of 43 set from 1983-86 by Judy Sholtis.
Sophomore catcher Alli Ackerman (Morris Plains, N.J./Parsippany Hills H.S.) leads the team in hitting with a .400 average (10-for-25) and in walks with six. Ackerman has hit safely in six of the Crusaders' 10 games this season.
Sophomore second baseman Erin Nittinger (Montoursville, Pa./Montoursville H.S.) has hit just .233 through 30 at-bats, but has been rock-solid in the field with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in 36 chances. Last season, Nittinger made just seven miscues in 27 games.
Last season's Commonwealth Conference Rookie of the Year, sophomore shortstop Shana Lalo (Bethlehem, Pa./Northampton H.S.), is batting just .214 but has drawn five walks to rank second on the team. Defensively, she has been solid as well with just two errors in 37 chances for a .946 fielding percentage.
