Westmoreland Campus Clippings: Saint Vincent wins PAC softball title

Saint Vincent made the most of an opportunity to host the PAC softball playoffs. The Bearcats won the championship Friday in Latrobe.

During a grind of a morning and afternoon, SVC won three games to claim the title and advance to the NCAA Division III Tournament. It was the team’s second PAC title, the last coming in 2016.

The Bearcats will play DePauw in the first round of the national playoffs.

Freshman Celia Knappenberger was named Most Outstanding Player in the tournament. She went 3-1 in five appearances with 10 strikeouts and a save.

She shut out Westminster in the first game 4-0 to propel the Bearcats into the championship round. She followed with six scoreless innings as SVC beat Thiel, 7-0, to force a deciding game.

Facing Thiel again less than an hour later, SVC rallied to pick up a 7-4 win.

Sophomore Alona Sleith (Yough) and freshman Kelsey Tobin (Hempfield) drove in runs in the first game.

Tobin doubled and scored on a wild pitch in Game 2, and sophomore Shae Robson (Deer Lakes) had a two-run triple. Robson added a two-run double to make it 5-0.

In the final game, sophomore Johnna Karas (Norwin) drove in a run to make it 3-2. Tobin ripped a two-run single to put the Bearcats ahead 5-4.

Karas later singled in Tobin for a 7-4 advantage.

The time, date and location of the Bearcats’ first-round game in the NCAA Tournament has not been announced.

Lauren Miller, Robson, Riley Assalone and Knappenberger made the all-tournament team.

Lafayette: Senior Maddie Wensel (Norwin) played out her final season with the Leopards (8-39-1), starting 48 games at various spots, including catcher and designated hitter. She hit .213 with 18 runs scored, 11 RBIs, five doubles and a home run.

Mt. Aloysius: Three area players helped the Mounties (32-8) capture a second straight AMCC championship.

They are sophomore Lydia DeFazio (Penn-Trafford), who has been one of the most productive players in Division III this season, and freshmen Sammy Smith (Penn-Trafford) and Karlie Clark (Yough).

DeFazio is hitting .491 with nine home runs, 44 RBIs and 32 runs — all team highs.

Smith had a .266 average with 31 runs and 14 RBIs, and Clark is batting .300 with 12 runs and 11 driven in.

Clark also is 7-3 with a 2.61 ERA.

The Mounties move on to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Baseball

Pitt-Greensburg: The Bobcats’ season came to an end over the weekend with a 4-3 loss to host Penn State Altoona in the first round of the AMCC Tournament. Junior Chris Common (Penn-Trafford) and freshman Ben Green had two hits in the loss, which closed the team’s record at 14-21.

Common had a big week. The left fielder broke the school’s career hits record last week, and on Wednesday the Bobcats’ career home run leader tied a single-game mark with three home runs in a 15-4 victory over neighboring Saint Vincent in Greensburg. He drove in six runs.

UPG won its home regular-season finale by scattering a season-high-tying 20 hits against the Bearcats. Common tied Tim Grum, who homered three times against Waynesburg in 2000. Common leads UPG with seven homers and has 29 for his career. He went deep in the third with a solo shot, added a three-run blast in the fifth and added another solo homer in the sixth.

Seton Hill: With two wins at IUP, by scores of 4-2 and 11-5, the Griffins (29-19, 18-10) earned a berth into the PSAC playoffs.

They finished the regular season with a four-game sweep of the Crimson Hawks.

Winners of six straight, the Griffins will open the postseason against Millersville on Wednesday in Johnstown.