April 30, 2007

Monday, April 30, 2007

This Week in Walsh University Athletics

Tues. 1 Sofball at Geneva College (DH) 12 pm

Thurs. 3 Baseball (H) Malone College (DH) 1 pm

Softball at Ohio Dominican University (DH) AMC Qualifying Tournament 3 pm

Men's Tennis vs. Malone College at NAIA Region IX Tournament at Cedarville University 9 am

Women's Tennis at Cedarville University at NAIA Region IX Tournament 1 pm

Men's Golf at AMC/Region IX Tournament at Apple Golf Course in Howard, OH

Fri. 4 Men's Golf at AMC/Region IX Tournament at Apple Golf Course in Howard, OH

Men's Tennis vs. winner of Tiffin/Cedarville (if  necessary) at NAIA Region IX Tournament at Cedarville University 9 am

Women's Tennis vs. Tiffin/Ohio Dominican winner (if necessary) at Cedarville University at NAIA Region IX Tournament 1 pm

Sat. 5 Baseball at Malone College  (DH) 1 pm

Track at Al Campbell Open

Schedule and times are subject to change

BASEBALL: Cavs (22-24, 9-3) Lead AMC North Heading into Final Week/Indorf Hit Streak at 16 Games

Walsh's (22-24, 9-3 AMC N) championship fate is in their own hands, as they enter the final week of the regular season.  With two AMC North doubleheaders to play, Walsh leads second place Geneva College (8-4 AMC N) by one-game and third place Malone College (7-5) by two games.  Walsh will play rival Malone at home on Thursday and at Malone on Saturday.  Both doubleheaders begin at 1 pm.  Geneva has four games remaining with Point Park University this week.  The Cavs enter the final week of the regular season on a three-game skid.

The Cavs lost both ends of a doubleheader at NAIA 13th ranked Ohio Dominican University (34-8) on Saturday, 7-5 and 4-2.  Ohio Dominican scored five runs in the fourth inning of game one, to wipe out a 5-2 Cavs lead in a 7-5 triumph.  Mike Dougherty (So., Canton, OH/McKinley) (6-4) lasted 3.1 innings and was tagged with the loss.  Left fielder Ryan Indorf (Jr., Massillon, OH/Washington) had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.  Centerfielder Mark Kelly (Fr., Norton, OH/HS) had two hits and two RBI.  Andy Schon (Sr., Coventry, OH/HS) (6-4) took the loss in game two.  Indorf again had two hits and has hit safely in 16 games.

Catcher/Designated hitter Rollin Matsui is hitting a team-leading .414.  Matsui has two home runs, 20 RBI, and a team-best .557 slugging percentage.  Jason Pettigrew leads the team with 31 RBI and six doubles, and is hitting .326.  Second baseman Mike Suliks is hitting .360, with five doubles and 15 RBI.  Indorf is batting .331, and leads team in at-bats (151), runs scored (34), hits (50) and extra base hits (11).  Shortstop Chad Campbell (Jr., Ashtabula, OH/Lakeside) is hitting .329 and is second to Indorf with 49 hits and 33 runs scored.  Andy Schon leads the staff in innings pitched (67.1), strikeouts (58) and has lowest ERA (3.61) among Walsh's starting pitchers. 

SOFTBALL: Cavs (20-25, 6-8 AMC S) Meet Ohio Dominican in AMC Qualifying Playoff

Despite losing five of their final six American Mideast Conference South games, Walsh (20-25, 6-8 AMC S) has qualified for the upcoming conference qualifying tournament.  The Cavs play at Ohio Dominican University (17-25, 10-4 AMC S), in the best two out of three series in Columbus starting on Thursday at 3 pm.  The two teams play a twin bill on Thursday, and play the deciding game on Friday, if necessary.  Before the big games in Columbus, the Cavs travel to Geneva College for a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday at 12 pm.

Krystal Sherry (Fr., Brunswick, OH/Holy Name) leads the Cavs with a .350 average, and with 13 doubles and 23 RBI.  She is also leading the pitching staff with an 8-8 mark and 2.44 ERA.  Jamie Lewis (Fr., North Olmsted) is hitting .324 and Laura Schmidt (Fr., Canton, OH/Jackson) .313.  Schmidt is tied for the homerun lead (four) with Jamie Notch (Sr., Suffield, OH/Field).  Right-hander Dana Hartings (Jr., Chickasaw, OH/Marion Local) is still out with a hamstring injury, suffered while playing first base.

MEN'S TENNIS: Cavs (14-3, 6-0) Begin Trek to Re-Capture NAIA Region IX Title

After Walsh (14-3, 6-0 AMC) defeated Ohio Dominican University two weeks ago to win their 11th straight American Mideast Conference regular season championship, they had completed the first step in returning to the NAIA National Tournament.  Now the Cavs enter the upcoming region tournament as the top seed, and play fourth seeded Malone College on Thursday at 9 am in a semifinal match.  The regional tournament is being held at Cedarville University, where the host Yellow Jackets meet Tiffin University on Thursday, following the Walsh match.  The winners meet on Friday at 9 am, for the regional title and NAIA National Tournament appearance in Mobile, Alabama, May 14-18.  Walsh's string of nine straight national appearances came to an end last May, when they were upset 5-0 by Cedarville in the region title match. 

The Cavs one-two punch of Stephen Webster (Jr., Lexington, OH/HS) and Dexter Mahase (Jr., La-Romaine, Trinidad) continue to play well.  They are a combined 25-7 at first and second singles.  Webster is 13-4 playing mainly first singles, while Mahase is 14-3, playing mostly at number two. The two make up the Cavs top doubles team, and are 11-4.  Sean Smith (Sr., Edgewater, NY/Bradenton Academy) is 14-3 at third singles.  Freshman Justin Collins (Lexington, OH/HS) is 10-5 at mostly fourth singles, and Greg Kerschbaum (Jr., Elyria, OH/HS) is 13-4 at mostly fifth singles.  Andy Coutts (Sr., New Philadelphia, OH/HS) is 11-6 at sixth singles.  Smith and Collins are 8-1 at second doubles and Kerschbaum and Nick Grahame (Sr., Louisville, OH/ST. Thomas Aquinas) are 7-2 at third doubles.

WOMEN'S TENNIS: Cavs (14-4, 9-0) Win AMC Title

Top seeded Walsh (14-4, 9-0 AMC) meets fourth seeded Cedarville University in a semifinal match at the NAIA Region IX Tournament, this Thursday at 1 pm at Cedarville.  The Cavs defeated the Yellow Jackets 7-2 in the regular season.  If Walsh wins, they play the winner of the Tiffin/Ohio Dominican match on Friday at 1pm for the region championship, and NAIA National Tournament berth.  Mobile, Alabama is the site of the 27th annual championships, May 14-18.   Walsh last played at the NAIA Championships in 2005.  Walsh enters the tournament with six straight wins and 14 wins in their last 15 matches.

The Cavs won their three matches, despite having number two singles player Jenamarie Ianni (So., North Canton, OH/Hoover) out with the flu.  Number one singles player Kristen Cady (Sr., Canton, OH/GlenOak) is 10-8 on the season.  Ianni is 10-6 at second singles.  The duo is 11-5 at first doubles.  Lindsey Cady (So., Canton, OH/GlenOak) is 11-7 at third singles; Ingrid Brainard (Sr., Madison, OH/HS) is 14-3 at fourth singles.  Brainard and Cady are 12-0 at third doubles.  Megan Navarre (Jr., Indianapolis, IN/Center Grove) is 12-4 and Hilary Rossi (Fr., Warren, OH/JFK) is 12-5.  Rossi and Jen Yost (Fr., Massillon, OH/Jackson) are 7-4 at third doubles.

MEN'S GOLF: Cavs (15-20) at AMC/Region IX Championships this Week

Walsh (15-20) will play in the 36-hole American Mideast Conference/NAIA Region IX Tournament, held this Thursday and Friday at Apple Valley Golf Course in Howard, Ohio.  The winner advances to the 56th annual NAIA Championships, May 22-25 in Plymouth, Indiana.  Walsh won its last AMC title in 2002 and made its last national tournament appearance in 2002.

Heading into this week's play, David Rose (Sr., Marietta, OH/HS) leads the Cavs with a 77.4 average.  Chad Coombes (Sr., Medina, OH/Buckeye) is at 79.3, Mike DiFabbio (Sr., Steubenville, OH/Central Catholic) 80.1, Mike Lenartowicz (Jr., Canton, OH/Perry) 80.1 and Kevin Tournoux (Jr., Lakewood, OH/HS) 80.5. 

Rose paced the Cavs last week with a 72 in the final round at Cedarville, while Lenartowicz had an 81 at Notre Dame.

MEN'S TRACK: Cavs at Al Campbell Open on Saturday

Walsh's Alex McCallion (Sr., Canton, OH/GlenOak) was the team's top finisher at the Sparky Adams Invitational, held at Baldwin-Wallace College this past weekend.  McCallion finished 5th in the 400m hurdles (56.67).  Brendan McKee (So., Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) was next with a 12th place finish the 5000m (16:12.57).

The Cavs are at the Al Campbell Open, at the University of Akron on Saturday. 

WOMEN'S TRACK: Cavs at Al Campbell Open on Saturday

Walsh's Danielle Cofojohn (Fr., Diamond, OH/Southeast) paced the Cavs with a seventh place finish in the discus (126-25) at the Sparky Adams Invitational, held at Baldwin-Wallace College this past weekend. Ebony Williams (Jr., Akron, OH/Firestone) was eighth in the high jump (4-10.25). 

The Cavs are at the Al Campbell Open, at the University of Akron on Saturday.