Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Colleges

Sweep puts Lions in the zone

By CHRIS WAGENHEIM
Published April 11, 2007

The Lions are looking for their next meal.

After sweeping No. 21 Lynn University on Saturday, Saint Leo moved up the Sunshine State Conference baseball standings. The Lions are fourth in the conference, one game behind Florida Tech and Lynn.

With a 23-17 record, 8-7 in the SSC, the Lions faced No. 2 University of Tampa (32-7, 10-2) on Tuesday night.

"Our confidence level after sweeping this weekend is going good for us," coach Ricky Ware said. "Any win is a good win to keep the streak going."

Standouts for the Lions clearly are shortstop Jerry Gonzalez and first baseman Eric Spicer.

Combined, the two are top 10 in the conference for nine hitting statistics. Spicer leads the conference in RBIs with 49, while Gonzalez sits atop the leaders for doubles and triples, 18 and six, respectively.

While his teammates are topping the hitting statistics, third baseman Yunior Tabares tops a different category: hit by pitch.

The 6-foot-5 junior has been hit at the plate 16 times, six more than any other player in the conference.

"He's got a magnet in his body," Ware said. "It doesn't matter to me and it doesn't matter to him because his on-base percentage is pretty good."

Saint Leo softball

The Lions (27-16, 9-6) play Florida Gulf Coast twice today, but it will be refreshing considering the schedule the team has after the doubleheader.

The Lions finish the season playing nine conference games in less than two weeks, including three against conference leader Tampa.

There is a bright side for the Lions, however; all of their remaining games are at home, where their record is solid (17-4).

Sophomore pitcher Ashley Urbanik leads her team and tops conference charts.

Urbanik, 18-8 with a 1.58 ERA, is third in the conference in strikeouts with 179 and fourth in the conference in wins. As good as she is on defense, Urbanik is just as good on offense. She is fourth on her team with a .297 batting average and second in home runs with four.

PHCC baseball

After dropping eight straight, Pasco-Hernando Community College hopes to get things back on track today against conference rival Lake Sumter Community College. The Conquistadors (19-22, 7-14 Suncoast Conference) have beaten Lake Sumter in all three meetings this season.

The Conquistadors play Lake Sumter again Friday before matching up against Polk Community College twice to end their regular season. PHCC is 2-1 against Polk this season.

Hitting and pitching inconsistency seem to be plaguing the Conquistadors. Only three batters are hitting above .300, only two have hit more than one home run and two pitchers have a winning record. Lou Pepper (5-5) has only five games under his belt; six others have started two or more.

PHCC softball

The Conquistadors haven't seen their home field since March 27 and won't again until the end of the season. PHCC (15-21) ends its season on the road, clashing with South Florida Community College on Thursday, then with Manatee Community College on April 18. The Conquistadors are 1-3 in their past four away games and 9-11 total on the road.

Sophomore outfielder Stephanie Seaman is consistent. With 131 at-bats, the New Port Richey native has gotten a hit 60 times, putting her season average at .458, far and away the best on the team.

She also has two home runs, second best on the team. Seaman may have the best average, but catcher Ja'Vonna Grimsley, another sophomore, leads the team with seven home runs and 36 RBIs and is second to Seaman in average with .349.

[Last modified April 11, 2007, 07:40:10]