Eagles’ Athletics Shine in Weekend Events

This last weekend was a very fruitful one for Mary Washington athletic teams, as many UMW squads notched wins.

Women’s Basketball

The Eagles ladies’ basketball team won a laugher over York College on Saturday, Feb. 12, in Goolrick Gymnasium, blowing past the visiting Spartans 65-38. UMW never trailed in the game and led by double digits for nearly 31 of the 40 minutes of game action.

UMW’s offensive attack was a collective effort, as 10 different Eagles scored in the game. Juniors Jenna McRae and Katie Wimmer were the leading scorers, as they scored 13 and 11 points respectively in the win.

The Eagles shot a respectable 47 percent from the field, but they did struggle from three-point range (3-15) and were subpar from the charity stripe as well (66.7 percent).

The key to UMW’s victory was again their stellar defensive play. Mary Washington held the Spartans to just 14 first half points and York shot a rancid 27 percent from the field in the contest.

The win improved the women’s basketball team to 18-5 overall and 13-1 in conference play. The victory clinched the top seed in the upcoming Capital Athletic Conference Tournament for UMW, which is set to begin in just five days.

Baseball

The Eagles baseball team got their season underway last Saturday with a home double-header against Messiah College. The Eagles swept Messiah on Saturday by scores of 7-3 and 2-0, and followed those victories up with a 5-3 win over Christopher Newport University on Tuesday, Feb. 15.

The Eagles offense got going early in their first game against Messiah, asa sacrifice fly by senior pitcher Eric Rehbein and an RBI-single by senior center fielder Jackson Clement put UMW up 2-0 after the first inning. Mary Washington’s offense scored in five of the six innings they came to bat, and Clement, Rehbein and freshman Beattie Southerland were the team’s leaders at the plate. Clement and Southerland tied for the game-high in hits with three apiece, while Southerland and Rehbein led the Eagles with two RBI each.

Rehbein also had a very strong outing on the mound, pitching all seven innings and giving up six hits and three runs (one earned run) to get his first win of the season.

The second game of the double header was a much closer affair, as UMW edged the Falcons 2-0.

Pitching was crucial for the Eagles in the second leg of the back-to-back, as freshman Jake Black, sophomore Torey Mancari and junior Ryan Engelking combined to one-hit Messiah. Black threw five no-hit innings in his first collegiate start, and Engelking struck out two in his inning of work to tally his first save of the season.

The only scoring in the game came in the bottom of the fourth inning, as RBI singles by Rehbein and Brent Steffy drove in the two UMW runs.

In the third game of the year for the baseball team, the UMW squad kept their record spotless by defeating Christopher Newport 5-3. Junior third baseman Santino Rosanova did a lot of damage at the plate, going 3-4 in the contest and scoring two runs, both of which were game-highs.

Senior pitcher Parker Talbert gave up 2 runs (0 earned) in 5.2 innings of work and struck out five batters to pick up the win. Engelking again earned the save as he pitched a scoreless seventh to secure the UMW victory.

The next games for the baseball team will be this Sunday, Feb. 20, when they Eagles host Penn State-Harrisburg for a doubleheader starting at noon.

Women’s Lacrosse

The women’s lacrosse team played the first game of their 2011 campaign last Saturday as well, and they easily handled Guilford College 17-8.

UMW jumped out to a 9-1 lead and coasted past the Quakers, outshooting Guilford 33-23 and winning the turnover battle 18-26.

Nine different players scored for the Eagles in the blowout win, led by junior Catherine Kennedy’s five goals and senior Katie Wall’s three goals. Though sophomore Keller Torrey didn’t score a goal herself, she assisted on a game-high six goals in the UMW win.

The goalie duties were split by half, as junior Danni Guigli commanded the goal in the first half and sophomore Kathryn Stiltz took over control in the second. Guigli allowed three goals in her half of action while recording two saves and Stiltz surrendered five goals while tallying four saves after intermission.

The women’s lacrosse team will have their first home game on Saturday, Feb. 19, when they host CAC foe Hood College at 1 p.m.

Women’s Tennis

The women’s tennis team also started their season last weekend, as they split a pair of matches on Saturday. The Eagles fell by a score of 5-2 to George Mason University in their first event and then bounced back in their afternoon event to beat Methodist University 8-1.

In the singles matches against the Patriots, UMW No. 2, senior Megan Lawlor, picked up a win over Mason’s Lindsay Gray 6-2, 1-6, 10-7, and UMW freshman Lindsay Raulston, the team’s No. 5 player, defeated Brooke Blackwell 6-4, 6-2.

In doubles play, all three UMW pairings lost to George Mason, falling 8-4, 8-4, and 8-1.

The afternoon brought happier times, as the script was flipped and the women’s tennis team dominated the afternoon event. In just the second event of the young season against Methodist, the Eagles won all six singles matches and two of three doubles matches.

The team’s No. 1, freshman Lauren Gaspar, won (6-1, 6-0) against Kaitlin Flaherty, UMW’s No. 2 player, junior Michelle Meadows, defeated Katherine Meinl (6-1, 4-6, 6-3) and No. 3 Raulston knocked off Rachel Purser (6-1, 7-5). The other three singles wins came when No. 4, sophomore Cassie Bowman, was victorious (6-3, 5-7, 10-6) over Laura Baker, junior Casey Malcolm, the team’s No. 5 player, beat Dana Powell (7-5, 6-4) and the Eagles’ No. 6 slot, held by Jocelyn Lewis, tallied a win (6-0, 6-2) over Kelli Shelton.

The Eagles double pairing of Lewis and Meadows defeated the Monarchs No. 2 doubles team of Powell and Purser 8-6, and UMW’s No. 3 doubles team of Malcolm and Raulston won 8-4 over Methodists Baker and Shelton combination.
The next event for the women’s tennis team will be Sunday when the Eagles host Hollins University at 2 p.m. followed by conference rival Hood College at 5 p.m.