MOC sports roundup

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on March 24, 2004 1:55 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Mount Olive College jumped 15 places to No. 15 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division II Top 30. Mount Olive is 26-8 overall and 11-4 in the Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference.

The Trojans earned their highest ranking of the season after spending two weeks at No. 30. Mount Olive's jump in the rankings was helped by a two-game split last week with No. 4 North Florida.

Mount Olive is hitting .322 as a team and has 42 home runs in 34 games.

The Trojans posted a 4-1 record last week and have won 17 of their last 21 games. Mount Olive swept a three-game series against Belmont Abbey over the weekend as the Trojans have won each of their last four CVAC series.

Ryan Hurba and Stevie Parrish are tied for second in the CVAC with 12 home runs apiece.

Hurba, who ranks in the top three in the conference in all three triple crown categories, leads the CVAC with 53 runs batted in. Parrish is third with 49.

On the mound, Ricky Duke is 7-0 with two saves, while Brian Corbett is 4-1 with one save. Duke, who picked up two wins last week, went the distance in the Trojans' 10-8 victory over North Florida, holding North Florida to one run over the final five innings and retiring 12 of 13 batters during one stretch.

Along with the split against North Florida, Mount Olive has wins this season over No. 9 Shippensburg and No. 10 Pfeiffer.

The Trojans have games scheduled later this season against No. 12 Augusta State and previously nationally-ranked Georgia College and State.

Mount Olive has four days off before heading to Due West, S.C., for a three-game CVAC series at Erskine. The Trojans play a single game Friday, then finish the series with a doubleheader Saturday.

Softball -- Catawba sweeps Lady Trojans

SALISBURY -- Jen Mehl's double with two outs in the bottom of the eighth scored Jessica Rivera with the winning run as host Catawba completed a doubleheader sweep with a 3-2 victory over Mount Olive in game two of a non-conference NCAA II softball doubleheader Monday at Salisbury. In game one, Rivera's rbi-double in the bottom of the sixth broke a 1-1 tie to lead Catawba to a 2-1 victory. The sweep ended Mount Olive's four-game winning streak.

Mount Olive (11-15) took an early 1-0 lead as Liz Recny (Alexandria, Va./Hayfield HS) reached on an error and eventually scored on a single to left by Colleen Thomas (Shrewsbury, Pa./Susquehannock HS). Trojan starter Erin Case (New Burg, Ore./Shasta CC) held Catawba (17-18) scoreless on two hits through four innings and retired seven consecutive batters before Stacy Handy bunted her way on base to lead off the fifth.

Handy moved to third on a sacrifice and an error, and scored on Ashlee Rhoades' single to tie the game 1-1. Vivian Lee led off the bottom of the sixth with a single and scored the go-ahead run on Rivera's double to left. Case (5-9) allowed one earned run and finished with a six-hitter for Mount Olive. Thomas had two of Mount Olive's four hits.

In the second game, Mount Olive again scored first as Thomas drew a one-out walk in the top of the first and eventually scored when Becky Garrod's (Langley, B.C./Minnesota-Crookston) single was misplayed.

Catawba answered in the bottom of the first on Liz Corbett's rbi-single.

The Trojans took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth as Kim Goens (Charlotte, N.C./Independence HS) led off with a double and scored on a single by Shauna Cowdrey (Alta Lomo, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga HS). But Catawba tied the game again in the bottom of the fourth as Mehl hit a leadoff single and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly.

The game remained tied 2-2 after seven innings and the "international tie-breaker" went into effect in the eighth inning. Erin Wilson (Moyock, N.C./Currituck HS) was placed on second for the Trojans to start the top of the eighth and advanced to third on a sacrifice, but was unable to score. Rivera was placed on second for Catawba in the bottom of the eighth, went to third on a sacrifice and scored one out later on Mehl's double. Cowdrey (6-6) tossed a six-hitter for Mount Olive, striking out four and walking three.

Mount Olive returns to action Thursday as the Trojans travel to Wingate for a non-conference doubleheader. Game time is 2 p.m.

Softball --

new dugouts

to be dedicated

MOUNT OLIVE -- The new softball dugouts at Mount Olive College's Nancy Chapman Cassell Field will be dedicated on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. before the Lady Trojans take on Pfeiffer College.

A catered barbecue lunch will be served at the dedication. aso, the Lady Trojans will recognize senior Liz Recny, the lone senior on the team this season, as she prepares to play in her final home series.

Tennis -- Women

take on Peace

MOUNT OLIVE -- The Mount Olive College women's tennis team puts its four-match winning streak on the line today as the Trojans travel to Raleigh to face Peace College in a non-conference contest. Match time is 3:30 p.m.

Mount Olive (5-6 overall, 5-3 Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference) has not lost an individual singles or doubles match in its last four dual matches. No. 1 singles Lucia Henkle and No. 3 singles Samanthi Wijisekera are both 7-1 in conference play. Henkle leads the team overall with an 8-3 mark in all singles matches. Henkle and Mariana Shimoda are 8-3 overall and 7-1 in the CVAC at No. 1 doubles.

Golf -- two Trojans get top 20 finishes

MARSHVILLE -- Jason Lodge tied for 11th place in the men's tournament and Lindsey Snyder tied for 18th in the women's tournament as the Mount Olive men's and women's golf teams competed in the J. Ralph Hargett Invitational, hosted by Wingate University.

The two-round tournament, which concluded Tuesday, was held at Eagle Chase Golf Club in Marshville.

Lodge shot a second-round 78 and finished with a 160, 11 strokes out of first place and six shots out of second place. Greg McDermott tied for 29th out of 57 golfers with a 168, while Eric Royster tied for 34th with a 169. Chris Bitzenhofer tied for 42nd with a 172 and Michael Bradshaw tied for 48th with a 175. As a team, Mount Olive placed eighth out of 11 teams with a 666. Pfeiffer won the tournament with a 617.

On the women's side, Snyder, a graduate of Eastern Wayne High School, shot a two-round total of 177. Snyder tied for 11th among golfers from Division II schools as the top six finishers were all from North Carolina State. Kate Somek finished 39th out of 48 golfers with a 209 and Eastern Wayne graduate Ashley Schatzman tied for 42nd with a 228.

Mount Olive did not compete in the women's team competition.

Both the Mount Olive men's and women's golf teams return to action this weekend in the Camp Lejeune/Upstate Tournament, hosted by Limestone College.