College Sports: Hilbert hits the fields for DIII week; Albany's Resetarits earns Player of Week

Hawks lacrosse team kicks off week with win

To begin the week-long activities celebrating student-athletes at Division III colleges, Hilbert’s men’s lacrosse team earned a 16-5 non-conference victory over Thiel College on April 11. Sean Purtill’s four goals and two assists led nine different Hawks in the scoring column as Hilbert kicked off DIII Week at the college on a high note.

Also in the win, Nick Cavalieri added three goals and one assist and Bill Moleins and Ryan Wagner contributed two goals each. William Wagner finished with 12 saves in net for the Hawks to earn the win, while Nick Kieffer aided in the effort with 11 face-offs. Justin Peterson and Eric Russell were honored at halftime for their contribution to the men’s lacrosse program since it reached varsity status last year. As part of DIII Week, the day was dedicated to Hilbert’s senior student-athletes.

Three days later, Hilbert’s two-game winning streak was snapped in losing 19-4 to Keuka College. Greg Zitnik of Blasdell scored twice for the visitors who dropped to 3-2 and hold onto fourth place in the North Eastern Athletic Conference. Keuka (3-1) sits in third place after the win. Hilbert has a week off from competition before playing Sunday, April 22 at SUNYIT before ending the regular season with a games against Medaille and Morrisville. The NEAC playoffs are set for May 2 for semifinal games and May 5 for the championship. Hilbert must stay in the top four to reach the playoffs.

Hilbert softball bounces back with twin-bill sweep

On April 12, Hilbert’s softball team was featured during DIII Week but the Lady Hawks suffered two Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference losses to Pitt-Bradford, 16-3, in the first game of the doubleheader and 9-1 in the later game. Amber Grosch went 3 for 5 for Hilbert on the day, while Emili Ripley ripped a home run to left-centerfield for the Lady Hawks in the opener. A bonfire for students and athletes alike followed the game.

Hilbert did bounce back two days later with 19-3 and 12-7 wins over Franciscan in a doubleheader. Ripley continued her home run hitting streak with long balls in both games of the doubleheader April 14. Devan Jonathan struck seven out in the early win, before Ripley went the distance in Game 2 earning eight strikeouts to claim her second win of the season. Hilbert advances to 7-14 overall and 3-9 in AMCC play.

In the first contest, Rachel Collier led Hilbert with four hits and one RBI, while Natalie Whitman went 3 for 4, including a homer and three RBI. Halsey Baker also went 3 for 4, adding three RBI. Allison Hall contributed two RBI in the win, while Jill Martucci of Hamburg, Kateland Ball, Tiffany Marchiano, and Grosch each added hits for Hilbert, which finished with 20 for the game.

In the later game, Hilbert enjoyed the hot sticks again with 15 more hits, led by Ripley’s second homer of the day and a double. Baker went 2 for 4, adding a homer and double of her own, along with three RBI. Whitman finished 3 for 4 with two RBI and Martucci recorded two doubles. Hall added three RBI and Grosch, two. Also in the win, Vicki Ernst picked up two hits and an RBI.

Hawks baseball sets new program AMCC win mark

The Hilbert College baseball team split Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference games at Pitt-Bradford on April 12, shutting out the Panthers 2-0 to start the day before losing 5-2 in the nightcap. In improving to 3-7, the Hawks tied their program’s win record in the AMCC. Senior Chris Hoak of Hamburg finished with three hits for the day and Nick Sherman earned the win on the mound, improving to 4-4, striking out five with only one walk. Jim Pernick notched a RBI-single, which turned out to be the game winner to break a scoreless tie in the fourth inning of Game 1.

The next day, Hilbert’s athletics department closed out the DIII Week of celebration with a tailgating party for student-athletes. The Hawks fell 14-12 in nine innings after rallying with five runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game. Joe Pernick finished with two hits and three RBI, while Lagueras was 2 for 3 with a pair of RBI. Hoak and John Babocsi added two hits apiece. In the seventh, Pernick came through with a two-RBI single, Lagueras with a RBI-double and Matt Militello, a RBI-single.

Albany’s Resetarits honored by America East Conference

Albany senior attackman Joe Resetarits of Hamburg was named the America East Conference Men’s Lacrosse Player of the Week, as announced by the league office on Monday (April 16). It is the first weekly honor in the college career of Resetarits, who now has the longest active point streak in the nation at 44 games.

Resetarits scored four goals and added a pair of assists in the Great Danes’ 15-7 win over Vermont on Saturday (April 14). Albany improved to 3-8 on the season and clinched a playoff berth with their third straight league win, moving to 3-0 in America East play. A two-time first-team all-conference selection, he scored two of the game’s first three goals as the Great Danes jumped out to a 4-0 lead and never looked back.

Resetarits, who also picked up four ground balls and had two caused turnovers, leads America East in points per game (3.82 ppg, 42 total), goals per game (2.73 gpg) and goals (31). He is eighth among active players with 108 career goals, and is also fifth nationally with 23 hat tricks in his career.

Sherman helps ECC to four straight wins

The Erie Community College baseball team recorded wins of 8-6 and 13-3 over Corning CC on April 14 to push the Kats’ Region III win streak to four games. ECC, now 19-11 overall and ranked sixth in the nation, has scored 10 or more runs in three of those wins. In the first two wins of that streak, 14-0 and 10-0 victories over Finger Lakes Community College, two days earlier at the ECC North Campus, freshman Vinny Sherman of North Collins recorded a Game 2 performance consisting of three hits, including a double. In a doubleheader split in Region III action against Onondaga CC, ECC received three hits and three RBI from Sherman in an 8-2 nightcap win. Onondaga CC picked up a 2-0 win in the opener.

Tigue provides relief for Fredonia in comeback

Fredonia rolled to a 9-0 win, then came-from-behind for a 4-3 victory over New Paltz in a SUNYAC doubleheader on April 14. The Blue Devils swept the doubleheader when Jessica Lauck ripped a two-out, RBI single in the eighth inning to break a 3-3 tie. Jennifer Tighe of Hamburg pitched five scoreless innings of relief. After Fredonia completed a rally from 3-0 down, Tighe nailed down the win with a scoreless eighth inning. The Frontier High School graduate allowed two hits, no walks and struck out five to improve to 3-3. Fredonia State upped its overall mark to 14-12-1 and 5-7 in the SUNYAC. The Blue Devils are idle until traveling to Buffalo State College for two games on Saturday (April 21) starting at noon.

Burke nearly guides ECC women’s lax to upset

The Erie Community College women’s lacrosse team could not overcome a three-goal deficit in the game’s final eight minutes, falling 16-14 to Herkimer County CC, the nation’s 10th-ranked team, on April 14 at Jim Ball Stadium on the ECC South Campus. The Kats, now 4-5, cut the lead to 15-14 with one minute remaining but could not get the tying goal. ECC trailed 13-10 eight minutes left and came within a goal, 13-12, before falling behind 15-13 with 90 seconds remaining. ECC freshman Carlye Burke of Lake View notched four goals.

ECC had won for the fourth time in five outings in a 24-3 victory over Niagara County Community College on April 11 in Sanborn. The Kats received five goals from Jess Tunis, a Lake Shore High School graduate and Burke, a Frontier High School graduate, who added four. The two were among nine Kats recording goals in the contest. In ECC’s 16-9 win over Mohawk Valley CC on April 4 at the ECC South Campus, freshmen Destiny Sampson, a Lake Shore High school graduate, and Burke each notched four goals.

Ithaca student-athletes honored by Empire 8

Kristen Miga of Lakeview and Ben Van De Water, a Hamburg High School graduate, were among 139 Ithaca College student-athletes named to the Empire 8 Presidents’ List for the fall 2011 semester. The list honors student-athletes who have compiled a grade-point average of at least 3.75. Ithaca’s recipients were the most of any conference school and included at least one member of all 26 teams. Kristin Miga, an Immaculata Academy graduate, is a senior accounting major who participates in women’s cross country and track and field and Van De Water is a junior composition major on the men’s track and field team.