Westmoreland County campus clippings: UPG's Melanie Mienke sets program strikeout record

Junior softball pitcher Melanie Mienke (Plum) etched her name into the Pitt-Greensburg record book.

The veteran righthander became the Bobcats’ all-time leader in strikeouts when she fanned 11 in a 6-3 victory over Wells Express.

Her total climbed to 241.

The previous record was held by Marley Lafferty, who pitched at UPG from 2012-16.

Softball

Bloomsburg: Callie Sowers (Hempfield) improved to 17-4 on the season with a 13-strikeout, one-walk performance in an 8-0 victory over Lincoln.

Sowers, who had a 1.14 ERA, was third in the PSAC in strikeouts with 182.

Geneva: Sophomore McKenzie Rapp (Penn-Trafford) had a 7-2 pitching record with a 2.82 ERA in 18 games and tossed three complete games while also posting three saves.

Her twin sister, Madison Rapp (Penn-Trafford), had appeared in 22 games, starting 20, and had five doubles, 13 runs scored and eight RBIs.

IUP: Sophomore Maddie Griffin (Ligonier Valley) has not thrown a pitch this season, but the former WPIAL ace was batting .366 with seven doubles, 22 RBIs and 28 runs through 36 games for the Crimson Hawks.

Pikeville: Grad student CJ Alincic (Mt. Pleasant) pitched a career-high 9 1/3 innings, striking out 10 and allowing three hits, but UPike lost to Bryan, 6-1.

Alincic moved to 7-9 for the season. She had a team-high 101 strikeouts, which ranked fourth in the Appalachian Athletic Conference, and 20 walks.

Pitt-Johnstown: Through 15 games and 14 starts, sophomore pitcher Mia Smith (Penn-Trafford) was 5-9 with a 7.97 ERA in 77 1/3 innings. She had a team-high 88 strikeouts and 68 walks.

Robert Morris: Junior outfielder Jess Matheny (Southmoreland) had two RBIs, and redshirst sophomore outfielder Courtney Poulich (Mt. Pleasant) added one as the Colonials defeated Cleveland State, 7-4.

Poulich struck again in Game 2 of the doubleheader as she knocked in two runs with a triple in a 5-1 win.

Seton Hill: The Griffins and their hot bats earned a sweep against Edinboro, securing them a berth in the PSAC Tournament.

The division-leading Griffins (34-10, 22-4) were leading all of NCAA Division II in team batting average (.377) at the beginning of last week.

Camryn Murphy became the program’s single-season home runs and RBIs record holder. Murphy, who was hitting .418, was up to 14 homers and 53 RBIs through 42 games.

Senior pitcher Logan Hartman was named the PSAC West Pitcher of the Week. She went 3-0 in three starts and had three complete games and two shutouts.

Westminster: Junior center fielder Sydney Lokay (Norwin) went 2 for 3 with an RBI to help the Titans to an 8-0 win over Thiel.

She added an RBI triple in the second game of a doubleheader, an 8-3 win. She was 3 for 3 with two triples, two RBIs and three runs scored.

Baseball

Davis & Elkins: Freshman Logan Bradish (Latrobe) had a slash line of .331/.920/.529 through 38 games for the Senators. He was leading the team with 40 hits, four home runs, 12 doubles, 23 RBIs and 18 runs.

Patrick & Henry: Freshman Dylan Grabowski (Penn-Trafford) was hitting .339 with a team-high seven home runs, five doubles, 17 RBIs and 17 runs.

Like past utility men who played at Penn-Trafford, he also was 5-2 as a pitcher with a 5.75 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 40 2/3 innings.

Pitt: Grad student catcher Josh Spiegel (Penn-Trafford) had a career game, going 4 for 4 with a home run, double and a career-high five RBIs as the Panthers clobbered St. Bonaventure, 17-1.

The Panthers hit five home runs, including a solo shot by sophomore shortstop Jake Kendro (Norwin).

Spiegel’s was a two-run blast.

Seton Hill: The Griffins ran their winning streak to six with a four-game, weekend sweep of Clarion.

They are 28-12 overall and 13-7 in the PSAC West. There are eight conference games left on the schedule.

Westminster: Senior Donny Shimko (Latrobe) launched his first career home run, a three-run blast, to power the Titans to an 11-5 win over Geneva.

Men’s volleyball

Penn State: The Nittany Lions won their second straight Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association championship with a 3-1 victory over George Mason.

Penn State (23-6), which received an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, was powered by tournament MVP John Kerr (Derry), a grad student who has been dominant in his first season as a full-time starter. In the match, Kerr finished with 19 kills and 12 digs. He had 31 kills in a semifinal win over Harvard.

Mark Pavlik, a Derry alum, coaches the Nittany Lions.

Men’s lacrosse

Saint Vincent: Freshman Luke Hartle scored the first three goals of his career as the Bearcats dispatched Bethany, 17-2, in a PAC game.

Men’s track and field

Grove City: Senior Gabe Dunlap (Penn-Trafford) threw the javelin 173 feet, 2 inches to place fourth at the John Papa Invitational at Slippery Rock.

Seton Hill: Sophomore Angelo Allen won the hammer-throw at the John Papa Invitational at Slippery Rock with a toss of 50.82 meters. He also took second in the shot put and third in the discus.

Women’s track and field

Clarion: Junior Leah Perry (Derry) helped the 1,600-meter relay team finish fifth in a season-best time of 4 minutes, 15.10 seconds at the John Papa Invitational at Slippery Rock.

Seton Hill: Grad student Natasha Bernett won two events at Slippery Rock’s John Papa Invitational, taking the 400-meter dash (58.50 seconds) and 400 hurdles (1:01.61).

Bernett also finished second in the high jump and was third in the long jump.

She was recently named the PSAC Field Athlete of the Week for a third time this season.

Men’s golf

Washington & Jefferson: Junior Cade Patterson (Penn-Trafford) finished tied for eighth at the PAC Championships, posting a 72-hole score of 306, including a 76 in the final round, at Mill Creek Golf Course-North in Ohio.

He made the All-PAC Second Team.

Women’s tennis

Thiel: Freshman Emmalea Zummo (Jeannette) teamed with Emily Peters at second doubles and posted an 8-2 win as the Tomcats defeated La Roche, 8-1.