Monday, March 3, 2008

Mon. 3 Baseball vs. Bethel at Webber 4 pm, vs. Montreat at Webber 7 pm

Softball vs. Indiana Wesleyan at Orlando 9 am, vs. King College at Orlando 11 am

Men's Tennis vs. Roanoke College at Hilton Head, SC 12 pm

Tues. 4 Baseball vs Bethel at Webber 11 am, at Webber 4 pm

Softball vs. U of St. Francis (IL) at Orlando 1 pm, vs. King College at Orlando 5 pm

Men's Tennis vs. Covenant College at Hilton Head, SC 8 am

Women's Tennis vs. Covenant College at Hilton Head, SC 8 am

Wed. 5 Women's Tennis vs. Pembroke at Hilton Head, SC TBA

Thurs. 6 Baseball vs. St. Ambrose at Warner Southern Tournament 2 pm, vs. Spring Arbor at Warner Southern Tournament 5 pm

Softball vs. Ferrum at Orlando 3 pm, vs. Misericordia at Orlando 5 pm

Men's & Women's Track at NAIA Indoor National Championships in Johnson City, TN

Fri. 7 Baseball vs. Siena Heights at Warner Southern Tournament 10 am, vs. Thomas University at Warner Southern Tournament 1 pm

Softball vs. Catholic University of America at Orlando 11 am, vs. Muhlenberg at Orlando 3 pm

Men's & Women's Track at NAIA Indoor National Championships in Johnson City, TN

Sat. 8 Baseball at Warner Southern Tournament

Men's & Women's Track at NAIA Indoor National Championships in Johnson City, TN

All Baseball and Softball games are being played in Florida

Times on all events are subject to change

MEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs (25-4) Await Seed and Opponent for NAIA National Championships

NAIA fourth ranked Walsh (25-4) will find out late Wednesday who and when they will play and where they will be seeded, when pairings are announced for the upcoming NAIA National Championships next week in Point Lookout, MO.  First round games at the College of Ozarks will be played on Wednesday (12th) and Thursday (13th).  Walsh will make its fourth straight trip to the tournament, after earning the American Mideast Conference's automatic bid with an 82-60 win over Malone College in the AMC North/South Championship game last Tuesday night.  The Cavs should be seeded no lower than fourth and possibly higher after some upsets among the top three teams in conference tournaments this past weekend.  The Cavs will enter the tournament on a four game win streak and with wins in 17 of their last 19 games.

Walsh started slow, as Malone shot the ball well early in the game and raced to their largest lead at 24-17 with 8:15 to go in the first half.  After Lamar Skeeter (5-10, Fr., Dayton, OH/Fairmont Kettering) hit a three-ball to cut the lead to 24-20, the rest of the night belonged to the Cavaliers.  Malone hit two free throws take a 26-20 lead when Walsh took over.  Walsh would out score Malone 21-2 the final 6:57 of the half and led 41-28 at the break.  The Cavs quickly pushed the lead to 18 points (50-32) in the first three minutes of the half and then to 22 points (56-34) with 15:36 to play.  With Brandon Weems (5-10, Sr., Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary) hitting three second half three-pointers and Eder Araujo (7-0, Sr., Sao Paulo, Brazil/Odete de Freitas) scoring 13 of his 16 points in the second half, the Cavs were never challenged.  Walsh would keep the lead above 20 points most of the half, and held their largest lead at 27 points (73-46) with 6:40 to play.  Weems led all scorers with 22 points.  Araujo added 16 points and 8 rebounds and Kyelce Cescato (6-10, So., Barra Bonita, Brazil/Colmeia Entec) recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.  Walsh held Malone to .400 (22-55) from the floor, while shooting .484 (31-64).  The Cavs also took great care of the ball, committing only six turnovers. 

Eder Araujo leads the Cavs in scoring (14.4 ppg) and rebounding (8.8 RPG) and is shooting .503 from the floor.  Corey Jones (6-3, Sr., Avon Lake, OH/Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary), the NAIA's top three-point shooter at .570, is averaging 13.7 points, shooting .534 from the field, and is shooting a team-best .875 from the foul line.  Weems leads the AMC in assists (6.1) and is averaging 11.8 points and 4.3 rebounds.  Josh Johnson (6-4, Jr., Warren, OH/Harding) is averaging 104, points, 5-1 rebounds and is shooting .750 from the foul line. 

BASEBALL: Cavs in Florida

Walsh (1-1) is currently on their annual spring trip to Florida, where they will play at least 10 games.  They close the trip at the Warner Southern Tournament, Thursday-Saturday.  Walsh advanced to the NAIA College World Series for the first time last season, after winning the NAIA East Coast Super Regional.

Ryan Indorf's (Sr., Massillon, OH/Washington) first inning grand slam powered Walsh (1-1) to 9-6 win over Siena Heights (1-2) in the first game of a double header at Webber International on Sunday.  Siena Heights rallied to win game two 5-3. The Cavs scored seven runs in the first inning, and led 9-0 before the Saints put up a six spot in the top of the sixth inning. Chris Norris (Sr., Massillon, OH/Jackson) started and picked-up his first win of the season (1-0).  Norris allowed all six runs, but only one was earned as Walsh committed six errors.  He allowed six hits, fanned three and walked one.  Steve Weirich (So., Minerva, OH/HS) worked the final 1.1 innings to earn his first save of the season.  Mark Kelly (So., Norton, OH/HS) singled, doubled and drove in two runs and Jeff Nicholas (Sr., Navarre, OH/Perry) also singled and doubled for the Cavs.  In the nightcap, Siena Heights rallied with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to post a 5-3 come-from-behind win.  The Cavs led 3-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth, when the Saints chased Walsh starting Mike Dougherty (Jr., Canton, OH/McKinley) (0-1).  Dougherty was charged with five runs, three earned, on eight hits.  He fanned five.  Jason Pettigrew (Sr., Massillon, OH/Jackson) and Matt Marshall (Sr., New Boston, OH/Glenwood) each had three hits. 

SOFTBALL: Cavs (1-1) Open Season with Split

(Orlando, FL) Walsh (1-1) opened the season with a split at the Rebel Games in Orlando, Florida on Sunday.  They lost 5-4 to Eastern Mennonite in the opener, but came back to win the nightcap 5-4 against Brewton-Parker College.  They will play eight more games in the Sunshine State before heading home.

Walsh surrendered four unearned runs in the loss to Eastern.  Krystal Sherry (So., Brunswick, OH/Holy Name) was the starter and loser for the Cavs, despite a fine outing.  Ashley Knupp (Fr., Massillon, OH/Tuslaw), Brittany Sostre (Fr., Parma, OH/Valley Forge) and Sherry each had two hits for the Cavs.  Knupp had a double, while Sherry and Sostre each had triples and drove in a run.  Dana Hartings (Sr., Chicksaw, OH/Marion Local) was the winner in game two.  Besides pitching the Cavs to their first win of the season, Hartings also had two hits, including a double and RBI.  Sostre was again 2-4 with a double and RBI, while Rachel Harter (Fr., East Canton, OH/HS) was 2-3 with an RBI.  Walsh took the lead with three runs in the first inning, and then added a single run in the third.

MEN'S TENNIS: Cavs Win University of Charleston Invitational

Walsh posted victories in eight of nine flights to win the University of Charleston Invitational, played Friday and Saturday.  The Cavs play matches on Monday and Tuesday in Hilton Head, SC, before returning home.

Stephen Webster (Sr., Mansfield, OH/Lexington) won at first singles and at first doubles with freshman Gary Innes (Randburg, South Africa/Kings School).  Innes also won at third singles.  Greg Kerschbaum (Sr., Elyria, OH/HS) won at second singles and at second doubles with freshman Jake Allmaras (Powell, OH/Olentangy Liberty).  Allmaras lost at fourth singles.  Casey Eck (Jr., North Canton, OH/Hoover) won at fifth singles and at third doubles with Matt Jeffries (Fr., Canton, OH/GlenOak) and Curtis Kugler (Fr., Dover, OH/HS) won at sixth singles.

WOMEN'S TRACK: Cavs Shine in Georgia, DiNinno Sets Mark/Cofojohn Set for Indoor National Meet

 Walsh shined at the Savannah State Invitational over the weekend, with five first place finishes and a school record.  Andrea DiNinno (Jr., Greensburg, PA/Central Catholic) set a new record in steeplechase (11.53), shattering the old mark by 43 seconds, held by Sara Piersante. Megan Case (Fr., Louisville, OH/HS) won the 800m (2:24), Kristen LeFever (So., Alliance, OH/Marlington) the 1500 (5:06), Sara Stone the discus (1-14.11) and Emma Heck (Fr., Canton, OH/Central Catholic) the pole vault (10-04.).

At Mount Union College, Danielle Cofojohn (So., Diamond, OH/Southeast) and Amy Stermole (SR., North Ridgeville, OH/HS) each won events. Cofojohn won the shot put (40-06.25) and Stermole the weight throw (47.03.50). Stermole also finished second in the shot (37-02.25).

Cofojohn will represent the Cavs at the NAIA Indoor Championships in Johnson City, TN this Thursday-Saturday.