Monthly Archives: April 2012

Weekend Preview

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It may be a holiday weekend, but there’s no holiday for the Mule spring teams who continue their seasons today and tomorrow.

Softball and track and field take the spotlight this weekend.

Softball at McDaniel (Saturday, 1:00)

What makes this the marquee matchup of the weekend? It’s not just that McDaniel is in first place in the Centennial Conference with an 8-0 record and Muhlenberg is one of two teams tied for second at 6-2 – although that certainly is a big part of it.

The two teams have come by their success in extremely different manners. Muhlenberg is hitting .374 and averaging more than nine runs in its eight CC games. Reigning CC player of the week Kelly Kline is hitting .593 with a .963 slugging percentage in CC games .

McDaniel, on the other hand, has done it with pitching, allowing only eight runs in its eight CC games. Reigning CC pitcher of the week Caroline Brehm is 8-0 with a 0.46 ERA and 88 strikeouts in 45.1 innings in CC games.

What will win out, hitting or pitching?

Live stats: http://www.mcdanielathletics.com/livestats/landing

Track & Field hosts Muhlenberg Invitational (Saturday, 10:00)

The Mules welcome 15 other schools for their only home meet of the outdoor season. This meet has been contested in rain and snow in previous years, so the sunshine and mild temperatures should lead to some good performances. Muhlenberg is also sending a handful of runners to Princeton for a distance event Friday night.

Women’s Lacrosse at McDaniel (Friday, 3:30); Men’s Lacrosse at McDaniel (Saturday, 1:00)

The Mule lax teams travel to Westminster in search of their first Centennial Conference win of the season. Both teams defeated McDaniel last year, the women 17-6 and the men 8-5. Both Green Terror squads have won just once in the CC.

Live stats: http://www.mcdanielathletics.com/livestats/landing

Baseball at Franklin & Marshall (Saturday, 12:30 doubleheader)

Muhlenberg has lost four of its last five CC games and will look to get back on the winning track against a Franklin & Marshall team that has split its first three CC series. Four of the Diplomats’ first six CC games ended in shutouts, two each way.

Live stats/audio: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/fandm.portal#

Diamond Insanity

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“It’s been a crazy few days.”

That’s what sophomore Chelsea Benjamin of the Muhlenberg softball team said following yesterday’s doubleheader sweep of Haverford. And it was a bit of an understatement.

For better or for worse, the Mules are doing their best to dispel the notion that fastpitch softball is a low-scoring game dominated by pitchers.

On March 23, in the first game of a doubleheader against then-No. 17 (now No. 14) Cortland State, Muhlenberg played what many would consider a traditional college softball game. The game was scoreless after seven innings, after which the teams went to international tiebreaker rules, starting each half inning with a runner on second. The intent is to increase chances for scoring so games do not go on inning after inning with zeroes on the board.

Cortland scored three in the ninth to win that game, and in the 12 days since, there haven’t been many zeroes on the board when the Mules have played.

Starting with the second game of that twinbill, Muhlenberg’s final scores in the next eight games were 7-6, 11-5, 11-3, 10-3, 7-6, 9-8, 7-6 and 6-0. In three of the four one-run games, the Mules took a lead of at least four runs into the final inning, losing the lead once and twice ending the game with the tying run on base.

Those eight games averaged more than 13 runs scored. And they were nothing compared to the second game of yesterday’s doubleheader, won by Muhlenberg, 17-13.

It was the fifth-highest scoring game in team history; the other four came in 1979 and 1980, the first two years of softball at Muhlenberg. The record for runs by both teams is 37, set in a 28-9 win against Moravian in 1980.

The game marked the 11th time in team history that both teams scored in double digits, and most of the first 10 occasions come from the early days of the sport:

  • 1979 Allentown 18, Muhlenberg 13
  • 1979 Moravian 22, Muhlenberg 13
  • 1980 Delaware Valley 18, Muhlenberg 17
  • 1981 Kutztown 11, Muhlenberg 10
  • 1982 Wilkes 12, Muhlenberg 11 (MAC championship game)
  • 1983 Lehigh 11, Muhlenberg 10
  • 1988 Lafayette 13, Muhlenberg 12 (8 innings)
  • 1995 Muhlenberg 14, Dickinson 13
  • 2000 Lake Forest 11, Muhlenberg 10 (8 innings)
  • 2011 Wesleyan 12, Muhlenberg 10
  • 2012 Muhlenberg 17, Haverford 13

The good news for the Mules is that they have won most of the high-scoring games this year, and despite all of the drama they are sitting in good position in the Centennial Conference with a 6-2 record. They are averaging more than nine runs in their eight CC games and have reached double figures four times – as many times as they did in the last four years combined. The school record for scoring in double figures in CC games is eight times, set in 1994, the first year of the league.

And in case yesterday’s Game 2 score reminded you of another sport, it should be pointed out that the last Haverford-Muhlenberg softball game outscored the last Haverford-Muhlenberg football game, a 28-0 Mule win in 1971 shortly before the Fords discontinued the sport.

Winning the Draw

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A pair of Muhlenberg men’s lacrosse players recently traded in their sticks and pads for pencils and sketchbooks.

Seniors Jay Salasko and Alex Ardolino are taking the class Drawing from Nature this semester, and some of their work is currently on display in the Galleria Lobby at the Baker Center for the Arts.

The class encourages students to seek inspiration from the natural world, be it birds, fish or animals – or even their bones. For a recent project, they were given various skulls and skeletons from the science department replicate. Both Salasko and Ardolino took a shot at drawing a pig skull. Salasko also tried his hand at sketching pig foot bones.

And while the subjects may seem rather macabre, Salasko said they were interesting and that he enjoyed the challenge of trying to convey the depth and feel of the objects.

“There are a lot of curves and shadows that can be tough to draw, especially on the skull,” he said. “It was cool to hold the two next to each other when I was done.”

While neither of them consider themselves artists, they said they’ve always been interested in drawing and that it gives them a chance to be creative.

A psychology major, Salasko has been drawing and doodling since he was a kid. But he never had any formal training until he took Drawing I in the spring of his sophomore year. That experience piqued his interest, so he took Painting I this past summer. And when he needed credits this spring to fulfill his graduation requirements, he took a look at the available art classes.

Ardolino, who is majoring in business administration, got his work hanging on the gallery wall in much the same fashion. He took Drawing I this past fall, and enjoyed it so much that he decided to keep with it this semester. Of course it didn’t hurt that one of his teammates was also in the class.

Now that they’ve gotten their works on display, Salasko and Ardolino hope to draw a few more masterpieces on the field.

And when they’re sitting at their desks a few years from now working on a project or doing some research, they just might start to doodle. And pretty soon that doodle could turn into a sketch, which just might bring back some memories of their time taking Drawing from Nature

“It’s a fun class, and I’ve learned a lot,” Ardolino said. “I never thought I’d be taking many art classes, but I really enjoy it. And I definitely think I’ll keep drawing.”

Athletes of the Week

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for contests between March 26 and April 1

Female Athlete of the Week – Kelly Kline, Softball

Kline was almost impossible to get out in a 4-2 CC week for the Mules, reaching base in 19 of 25 plate appearances and hitting .684 with 10 runs scored and 12 RBI. She had two doubles, a triple and her fifth home run of the season for a slugging percentage of 1.053 and an OPS of 1.813. Kline also broke the school record for longest hitting streak – 19 games.

Male Athlete of the Week – Christian Ferlan, Baseball

Ferlan played “stopper,” halting the Mules’ two-game skid with an impressive performance in the second game of the McDaniel doubleheader. He pitched into the ninth inning, scattering nine hits and striking out five in Muhlenberg’s 4-2 win. Ferlan is the first Mule hurler to win his first four decisions in a season since 1988.

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