General Mar 05, 2020

Lions Ledger: Spring Break in Full Swing

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RECORDS: #5 Saint Leo 5-1 | Auburn Montgomery 3-5 | #3 West Florida 7-3 | #16 University of West Alabama 5-4
Saint Leo grabbed a top-10 win on Wednesday over #9 Hawai'i Pacific. Ghali Mensour clinched the 4-1 match. Saint Leo earned the advantage taking the doubles point with wins from second and third doubles.
Auburn Montgomery is coming off a two-match losing skid after facing #11 Lynn (4-2) and #19 Valdosta State (5-2).
History: The teams last met on March 13, 2017 at the Saint Leo Tennis Center; Saint Leo defeated AUM 8-1.
#3 West Florida took fourth at the ITA DII Indoor Championship after winning the opening round against Wingate (4-1) followed by a pair of losses to Barry (4-2) and Hawaii Pacific (4-3).
History: Last year, the Argonauts topped the Lions, 5-2, at the Saint Leo Tennis Center.
#16 University of West Alabama last played on Feb. 29 when they hosted Lee and tallied a sweep, 7-0.
History: This is the first time the Lions and Tigers will met on the courts under the direction of fourth-year head coach Chad Berryhill.

RECORDS: #6 Saint Leo 4-3 | Auburn Montgomery 4-3 | #7 West Florida 5-1 | University of West Alabama 4-3
Saint Leo finished fifth at the ITA DII Indoor Championship on Sunday. The Lions dropped the consolation match against Indianapolis, 4-1 to wrap up the tournament.
Auburn Montgomery is looking to return to the win column after dropping two straight; #2 Lynn (4-0) and Valdosta State (4-3).
History: The teams last met on March 13, 2018 when the Lions grabbed a 9-0 victory.
#7 West Florida hosts the Lions holding a five-game win streak. The Argonauts have only dropped one match point in the last five matches.
History: Last year, West Florida snuck past Saint Leo, clinching a 4-3 decision.
#24 West Alabama has won the last three matches, taking down Delta State (5-2), Lee (4-3), and West Georgia (6-1).
History: This is the first time the Lions and Tigers will met on the courts under the direction of fourth-year head coach Chad Berryhill.

RECORDS: Saint Leo 3-14 | Kentucky Wesleyan 5-5 | Alderson Broaddus 1-8
Saint Leo is set for a very busy four days to open up Spring Break. Saint Leo hosts Kentucky Wesleyan for a single game Friday night at 6 p.m. before playing four games over three days against Alderson Broaddus. The Lions and Battlers will take the field at 6 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 4 p.m. Sunday and 1 p.m. Monday.
Senior Amir Wright continues to lead the Lions in batting average at .419 from his lead-off spot. Junior Sam Crail joins Wright as the only two Lions with a plus-.300 batting average Crail has a .316 average while leading the team in RBI (16) and extra base hits (8).
The Lion pitching staff is being led by sophomore Ruddy Gomez who has earned two of Saint Leo's three wins this season. He now has a 5.60 ERA and has seen a team-high 27.1 innings of action. He leads the team in strikeouts with 32 and has nearly double his nearest teammate in that category. Sophomore Jestin Jones now leads the team in ERA among those who have seen 10.0 innings or more of action at 4.32. He has 14 strikeouts in 16.2 innings of work.
Kentucky Wesleyan enters Friday's game having won three-straight in the state of Florida. The Panthers defeated Florida Tech 8-2 Monday and 1-0 Tuesday before downing 28th-ranked Florida Southern 17-8 on Wednesday.
Senior Joseph Burke leads the offense with a .441 batting average for KWC. He has a team-high 13 RBI and five home runs. On the pitching side, senior Devin Smith leads the team with a 2-0 record and a 1.51 ERA in 15.2 innings pitched.
Alderson Broaddus enters the weekend having dropped seven-straight. Their lone win on the year came on the opening weekend with a 6-4 decision at Coker on Feb. 8.
Sophomore Vincenzo Rauso leads the offensive effort with a .355 batting average. He is tied for the team lead in RBI with eight. Junior Chasen Claus shares the RBI lead with Rauso at eight while also leading the team in home runs with three. Sophomore Ryan Varley boasts the Battlers lone win on the mound while Junior Aidan Massad leads the team in ERA among pitchers who have seen 6.0 or more innings of action at 3.72.
HISTORY: The Lions and Panthers of KWC have met just once on the baseball diamond and the game took place March 12, 2013 in Saint Leo. The Lions won 9-2 over the visiting Panthers. The series with Alderson Broaddus is the first ever meeting between the two programs according to available records.

RECORDS: #15 Saint Leo 17-6, 3-3 SSC | #3 Rollins 20-1, 9-0 SSC | UMD 5-6 | BU 3-3 *records reflect March 5
#15 Saint Leo will travel to Winter Park to tango with the third ranked Tars of Rollins College with a six-game win streak on the line. The Lions won the last two in the series against Palm Beach Atlantic and then went on to sweep Tiffin (3-2, 3-2) and Wilmington (11-0, 2-0).
Kacie Kelly is leading the team from the box with a .455 average with a team best 30 hits and six doubles while tallying 13 walks on the season. Two pitchers have a sub-1.00 ERA in Kayla Betts (0.69) and Rachel Bean (0.86). Madi Mott has logged the most work in the circle in 60.2 innings while fanning 66 batters in 14 appearances.
#3 Rollins dropped its only game of the year 5-4 to Adelphi on Tuesday but rallied to win 6-3 to get back in the win column and post a 20-1 record.
The Tars are led by Ashley Troutman with a .409 average with a team best 27 hits but is second on the team in strikeouts with 11. Two hurlers have made appearances in the circle as Ashley Worrell stands at 11-0 with 73.2 innings of work and 55 strikeouts. Freshman pitcher Ali Shenefield is off to a hot start in her first year with a 9-1 record and 71.1 innings of work while sitting down 81 batters via the 'K'.
Minnesota Duluth stands at 5-6 but will play six more games before a matchup with the Lions on March 10 which includes a doubleheader with Tampa on Monday afternoon. Lauren Oberle is the team leader in average at .436 while Mady Stariha holds the team low ERA of 0.93 in 22.2 innings of work.
Bloomsburg holds a 3-3 record but will play eight more games before the doubleheader with the Green and Gold on March 11 where the Huskies will take on the Eckerd Tritons on Tuesday in St. Petersburg. Kelsey Impink is leading Bloomsburg with a .500 average collecting 10 hits in her 20 at-bats while Abby Wild is the leader in the circle with a 2.86 ERA in the team most 22.0 innings of work with 35 strikeouts.

RECORDS: Saint Leo 2-2 | Walsh 1-1
Saint Leo looks to bounce back after taking a 23-12 loss from #1 Limestone on Sunday. Philip Buque was named to the USILA Team of the Week after scoring six off six shots. Tyler Eames also recorded six points with a goal and five assists.
On the season, Eames paces the offense with 20 points (13g, 7a) followed by Buque with 14 points (12g, 2a). Jordan Williams is .500 on the year at the 'X' winning 47-of-94 faceoffs. On the back line, Ethan Ticehurst has earned a team-high six caused turnovers and 18 ground balls supported by Matthew Laird with 5 caused turnovers. In the net, Ian Areford has captured 51 saves facing 182 shots. He enters the game with a 46.8 save percentage.
Walsh will face Embry-Riddle Thursday night before heading to Saint Leo. The Cavaliers hold a 1-1 record entering their busy weekend. The team opened the 2020 season topping Molloy, 13-10, but dropped a 12-8 decision to Frostburg State on Saturday.
Roman Smoot leads the Cav's offense with 10 points (5g, 5a). Brent Mitchell is the team's scoring leader with seven goals for a season seven points. At the face, Jake Cieazynski has won 25-of-49 (51%). Patrick Cuddihy has earned both starts in the net. He has earned 34 saves while compiling a 11.0 goals against average.
HISTORY: Saturday's game marks the first-ever men's lacrosse meeting between Walsh and Saint Leo.

RECORDS: Saint Leo 5-9 | #18 Georgia State 5-3 | Mercer 1-6 | #RV Coastal Carolina 7-1 | College of Charleston 0-4 | Tusculum 2-2 | Palm Beach Atlantic 5-0
Saint Leo hits the road as the Lions open Spring Break with four matches at College of Charleston over the weekend. The Lions then return home for a Thursday afternoon tri-match with Tusculum and Palm Beach Atlantic.
Redshirt sophomore Anna Garrett and junior Nina Vattovaz continue to boast the most wins as a duo for the Lions as they have an overall record of 5-3 as a team at No. 1. Recently Vattovaz and sophomore Arlaina Stephenson have teamed up at No. 1 and have a 3-3 record together while Garrett has moved down to No. 2 with freshman Marissa Rakauskas where the two have gone 1-3 together.
Two of the Lions four opponents at College of Charleston either were in the AVCA Coaches Top-20 poll or were among those receiving votes including 18th-ranked Georgia State and Coastal Carolina who was one of four teams listed as receiving votes in the national poll.
Saint Leo has faced two of this week's opponents already this season. The Lions fell to then-16th-ranked Georgia State 5-0 in DeLand, Fla. while the Lions dropped a 3-2 decision at Palm Beach Atlantic earlier this year.

Saint Leo men's golf returns to action after winning the Saint Leo Invitational February 25 by one stroke over Keiser, erasing a four-stroke deficit from the first day of action at Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club.
The Lions saw Alberto Castagnara lead the way and take second after posting rounds of 68-68-73 for a 209 (-7) total.
Oliver Lilliedahl leads the team on the year and is ranked 35th in Division II and holds an adjusted scoring average of 72.77 as generated by GolfStat. Castagnara sits in 64th with an average of 72.63, Dave Longhini is 94th, 73.22, and freshman Kevin Johnson at 114th, 73.72 out of the 150 total ranked DII golfers.
The Lions look to crack the top-five and beat last year's place of fifth out of the 18 teams after carding an even-par 864. Castagnara led the Green and Gold and finished tied for third at 208 (68-70-70).
LINEUP: Alberto Castagnara, Dave Longhini, Oliver Lilliedahl, Antoine Beaupre-Vachon, Kevin Johnson
INDIVIDUAL: Jake Nash
RESULTS

Saint Leo women's golf heads back to the links after a few weeks off having last played on Feb. 18 when the Green and Gold finished in fifth at the Lady Moc Classic in Lakeland.
Izzy Lawrence led the team at the Lady Moc with a 10th place finish at one-over 217 following rounds of 73-69-75. Synne Lauritzen and Isabel Nesteus were tight on her heels in 15th place at five-over 221.
Francesca Santoni is the 17th ranked player in Division II with an adjusted scoring average of 73.68 by GolfStat. Lawrence and Lauritzen are tight together in 38th and 39th, with scoring averages of 75.20 and 75.09, respectively. Nesteus closes out the Green and Gold inside the top-150 golfers in 64th at 76.53.
Saint Leo looks to crack the top three after placing third a year ago at the Peggy Kirk Bell Memorial as Lauritzen paced the team with a 14th place finish with a 223 total (69-76-78).

RECORDS: Saint Leo 0-1 | PC 0-2 | #1 BU 4-0 | #8 CC 2-0 *records reflect March 5
Saint Leo returns to the mat after a month off following its first ever meet in which the Green and Gold fell 255.700 to 244.675 at Limestone.
Following the first meet, Kaleigh Pensavalle was honored as the Freshman of the Week by the National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association (NCATA) for her performance in the first ever meet. She competed in 13 of 20 heats contributing as a top and tumbler throughout.>
Pensavalle and the Lions' top stats were in the compulsory pyramid scoring a 9.35 out of a 10.0 start value, the compulsory toss, 9.65 (10), open pyramid, 8.9 (9.4), and the open toss, 8.7 (9.).
Presbyterian welcomes the Lions and Baylor Bears to Spartanburg, S.C. after falling to no. 3 Quinnipiac (268.300-252.045) and no. 8 Converse (264.430-255.720) to open the season.
#1 Baylor remains perfect on the year with wins over Mary Hardin-Baylor (266.305-225.655), no. 10 Limestone (277.205-263.00), no. 2 Oregon (281.350-275.475), and no. 5 Gannon (290.650-280.665).
Converse has picked up two wins on the year to start 2020, posting a 273.865-123.275 win over Erskine and a 264.430-255.720 win over Presbyterian.