Westmoreland campus clippings: Josh Spiegel impresses in Penn State debut

Josh Spiegel transferred to Penn State from Oklahoma State in the offseason as the redshirt freshman sought a better opportunity to see the field and make an impact.

It sure looks like the Penn-Trafford grad made the right decision.

He went 3-for-4 with two solo home runs in his Nittany Lions debut, a 6-3 win over Northwestern.

He added a 2-for-4 performance, with another RBI, in a 5-2 loss to the Wildcats. Spiegel is hitting .533 with six RBIs.

IUP: Grad student JP Pellis (Greensburg Central Catholic) allowed one hit and one run over 4⅓ innings with five strikeouts, as the Crimson Hawks beat Malone, 5-1. Pellis started three games last season and had nine Ks in 10⅔ innings.

Kansas State: Junior outfielder Zach Kokoska (Latrobe) hit his second home run of the season and scored twice in a 6-3 victory over Eastern Illinois.

Pitt-Johnstown: Sophomore Mario Disso (Penn-Trafford) tripled and drove in five runs as the Mountain Cats defeated West Liberty, 13-0. He had at least one hit in the team’s first three games.

Seton Hill: Senior Jared Kollar (Latrobe) struck out seven and gave up three hits across four innings to earn the win, junior Tanner Froelich homered, and sophomore Jack Oberdorf (Greensburg Salem) and junior Isaiah Diandreth (Hempfield) drove in runs as Seton Hill opened the season with a 7-3 win over Shippensburg. In the second game of a doubleheader, Pellis homered and senior Ben Vicini pitched a two-hitter as the Griffins swept with a 1-0 victory.

The Griffins’ roster is dotted with local players. Others include sophomore Owen Sabol (Norwin), senior Neal McDermott (Greensburg Central Catholic), senior Luke Whalen (Norwin), senior Jordan Fiedor (Hempfield), freshman Michael Marinchak (Ligonier Valley), sophomore Luke Hudson (Hempfield), and sophomore Tyler Dancu (Hempfield).

Softball

Pitt-Johnstown: Senior Bree Ginther had three hits and two RBIs in a season-opening doubleheader with Fairmont State. The Mountain Cats dropped the second game, 8-7, in nine innings, but Ginther had two hits and two RBIs, senior Stacey Walling (Hempfield) had three hits, redshirt junior Olivia Porter (Southmoreland) scored and redshirt junior Ashley Pagliei pitched all nine innings.

Robert Morris: Junior pitcher Dana Vatakis (Monessen) improved to 3-0 as the Colonials downed Howard, 12-2. She allowed five hits, struck out four and induced 11 groundouts. She retired 10 in a row in one stretch. Freshman Faith Miller (Southmoreland) had a hit and scored a run in the win.

Seton Hill: With victories of 5-0 and 12-0 (5 innings), the Griffins swept two games at Wheeling (W.Va.). Senior Jenna Osikowicz (Hempfield) had six hits in the two games, and freshman Nina Grandey went 6-for-7 with a double and three runs. Grad student Christina Skrabak (Norwin) homered and drove in four runs, and freshman Lauren Dellett pitched a complete game with 10 strikeouts in Game 1. Grandey was named the PSAC West Athlete of the Week, while Dellet took home divsion pitcher of the week honors.

Men’s basketball

Pitt-Greensburg: Senior guard Cam Seigreid (Penn-Trafford) had 16 points and nine rebounds, and four teammates also scored in double figures to pace the Bobcats to an 84-75 win over Penn State Behrend in their season opener. Junior JoJo France added 14 points, senior Matt Johnson had 12 and sophomore Micah Jones had 11 for UPG, which is playing an exhibition season.

Women’s basketball

Point Park: Senior guard Michelle Burns (Hempfield) was named to the River States Conference first team for the third straight season. Burns led the conference in scoring through a 10-game season with a 20.8 average and was second in assists (5.8).

Burns, who also averaged 5.9 rebounds, was third in NAIA in 3-pointers made. She made a program record 230 3s in her career, and also has the school record for 3s in a season (81) and in a game (nine). She is seventh on the Point Park scoring list with 1,399 points, and third with 385 career assists.

Saint Vincent: The Bearcats moved to 6-0 with a 90-70 win over Westminster as senior Jenna Lafko poured in 26 points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out seven assists. Senior Carlee Kilgus added 18 points, and sophomore Ella Marconi had 13 for SVC. Lafko was named the PAC Player of the Week.