A-K Valley campus clippings: Knoch grad Geist has NCAA's top mark in shot put

Jordan Geist is No. 1.

The Arizona sophomore and Knoch graduate recorded the best shot put mark in the NCAA with a winning toss of 21.59 meters (70 feet, 11 inches) at the Triton Invitational on April 13.

That throw also set Arizona’s school record and Geist’s personal record and ranks third in the world.

The Pac-12 named Geist its Men’s Field Athlete of the Week on April 16, the second straight week he received the recognition.

Baseball

Cal (Pa.): Freshman Jacob McCaskey (Deer Lakes) went 2 for 2 with an RBI, helping lift the Vulcans to a 4-1 victory over Seton Hill in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday.

Cuyahoga County Community College: Sophomore Dominick Bucko (Knoch) ranks among the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference leaders with a.363 batting average (seventh), two triples (tied for second), six homers (third) and 28 RBIs (fifth). He was named the conference’s player of the week earlier in April.

IUP: Redshirt senior Matt Swartz (Freeport) hit his seventh and eighth home runs of the season during a four-game series with Clarion. Swartz went 2 for 4 with an RBI double and two-run homer in an 11-9 win over Clarion on Thursday and added a solo shot in an 8-3 win Saturday.

Mount Aloysius: Sophomore Jeremy Iellimo (Valley) had a pair of three-hit performances last week, going 3 for 6 with three runs scored and an RBI in a 15-1 win over Hilbert and 3 for 7 with a run scored and RBI in an 18-16 loss to Messiah. Iellimo is hitting .352 with 22 RBIs and 34 runs scored.

Pitt-Bradford: Freshman Jake McNabb (Valley) hit his second home run of the season, a solo shot, in a 9-8 loss to Penn State Behrend in the second game of a doubleheader. McNabb is hitting .286 with 14 RBIs this season.

Seton Hill: Redshirt junior Chris Law (Knoch) hit his first home run of the season, a solo shot, as the Griffins beat Mercyhurst in the second game of a doubleheader. He followed that with a three-hit performance, setting a new season best, in a win over Cal (Pa.) in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday.

Softball

Penn State Behrend: Freshman Ashleigh Schmidt (Freeport) went 2 for 2 with a double and two-run single in a 10-6 victory over Pitt-Greensburg in the second game of a doubleheader. Senior Katie Gozzard (Deer Lakes) scored a pair of runs in the win. Gozzard drove in a pair of runs in the first game, a 9-2 Behrend win.

Pitt-Greensburg: Freshman Brittany Dunn (Burrell) went 4 for 4 and scored a pair of runs in a 10-6 loss to Penn State Behrend in the second game of a doubleheader. Dunn set a new career high for hits and raised her season batting average to .336 with the performance.

Point Park: Senior Tiffany Edwards (Deer Lakes) had two strong performances in a doubleheader sweep of Carlow, helping the Pioneers secure a Rivers State Conference playoff spot. Edwards went 2 for 4 in the first game, a 4-0 Point Park win, then drove in two runs in a 7-2 win in the second game.

Men’s volleyball

Penn State: Freshman Cal Fisher (Riverview) helped the Nittany Lions reach the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association championship match with some strong work at libero. Fisher had six digs and a .957 serve-receive percentage in a 3-2 semifinal win over George Mason. He had five more digs in the championship match, a 3-2 loss to Princeton.