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Feb. 22, 2009 PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - Baseball kicked off at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) and Hawk basketball swept the Heritage Sports Radio Network (HSRN) National Player of the Week fan poll. Senior Merrecia James and sophomore Amon Kiprotich have been named the UMES Athletes of the Week for the period ending February 15. James helped the women's track and field team to a third-place finish at the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex in Landover, Md. She posted 38 of the team's 88 points at the event. She also had a hand in three event wins, including breaking a five-year-old MEAC indoor record in the mile run by nearly five seconds in 5:00.44. Kiprotich tallied 12 points for the men's team which was fourth at the championships. He took a pair of third-place finishes in the 5,000 and 3,000 meters in 15:19.47 and 8:54.50, respectively. BASEBALL After a tough 2008 season, the UMES baseball team is looking to its solid corps of returners along with some promising newcomers to establish itself as a team to be reckoned with in the MEAC.
The Hawks, under the direction of third-year Head Coach Will Gardner, finished 6-50 overall and 4-12 in the MEAC, bowing out of the conference tournament with losses to eventual conference champion Bethune-Cookman and Norfolk State, respectively. "It's a new year," Gardner said. "The team has more depth, more speed, and a renewed spirit. With the seniors challenged to create a vigor that was lacking throughout the course of 2008, we are determined not to let history repeat itself in back-to-back seasons." The baseball team had a fairly good day at the plate in their home opener, but struggled on the mound, as they dropped both ends of a double header to Rider University 17-2 and 11-7 and fall to 0-2 on the season while the Broncs open their year 2-0. Phil Vaughn and Jorge Pichardo each had three RBI on the day while Pichardo, Russel Deutschmann and Josh Dunham, all seniors, had two hits apiece in the twin bill. In the first game Rider would jump all over freshmen Karim Gonzalez, picking up two runs in the first and 10 in the second before chasing him for the third inning. Jimmer Kennedy picked up the win for Rider going six innings, allowing four hits, two runs, one earned, a walk and getting four strike outs. Gonzalez took the loss as the Hawks used four pitchers in the game. The most effective being Brian White for the final inning who allowed just one hit and had one strike out. Freshmen John DesChamps was impressive in relief, he went four innings and allowed three runs but showed some potential, commanding the zone in his first three innings of work, allowing no runs until the sixth frame. MEN’S BASKETBALL Freshmen Jaime Boyer and Chris Conner combined to shoot 10-for-13 from 3-point range and junior Neal Pitt had 21 points and 16 rebounds as UMES topped Norfolk State, 83-81 at home. The win for UMES snapped a six-game losing streak and ties the Hawks for their most victories in a season since 2005-06. The loss for Norfolk State is its second straight. Boyer had a career-high 23 on six treys while Conner added 17 for the Hawks who shot 72-percent from the field in the second half and 66.7- percent from beyond the arc. Pitt was named the HSRN Division I Male Player of the Week for the second consecutive week. He averaged 16 points and six rebounds per game finishing with two blocks and two steals in two games last week. Florida A&M's Lamar Twitty had 18 points to lead the Rattlers to a conference win over UMES, 78-62 at the Gaither Gymnasium in Tallahassee, Fla. Pitt had a team-high 12 points for the Hawks and Aleksandar Popovic collected a double-double of 10 points and 11 boards. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL All 12 players on the women's basketball team saw time on the court, as the Lady Hawks rolled over Norfolk State University 95-64 in MEAC competition. UMES shot over 80-percent from the free throw line and finished with four players in double digits.
It was a night for giving. Wearing pink wrist and headbands for breast cancer awareness, the Lady Hawks dished out a season-high 21 assists as a team. Juniors April McBride and Tiffany Reid tied with freshman Adobi Agbasi, who finished with a career-high 16 points, to lead UMES. McBride added a game-high 15 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season. Junior Jasmine Speed had a season-high 10 points to close out the Lady Hawks in double-digits. McBride was named HSRN Female Division I National Player of the Week for the second time this year. She averaged 21.5 points and seven rebounds per game while shooting 48-percent from the floor and adding seven steals. McBride received over 60-percent of the votes beating out North Carolina A&T rival Brittanie Tayler-James and Jasmine Smith of Tennessee State. With Neal Pitt taking the men’s crown, UMES swept the weekly fan poll that, according to the HSRN website, designed to give HBCU fans and alumni a voice in a national voting process as well as help them stay up-to-date on top of individual performances around the country. UMES pulled out a nail biter against Florida A&M University 72-68 in MEAC play on the road. Every UMES starter finished in double-digits, for the first time in several seasons, to lead the Lady Hawks (12-12, 8-5 MEAC) to their second straight conference win. McBride led the pack with a near double-double, posting a team-high 17 points and game-high nine rebounds. Reid finished with 15 points. Speed and Josephine McLane each had 13 points respectively and Casey Morton finished with 10. Combined, the starting five shot .420 from the field and an impressive 95.2-percent from the free throw line. WOMEN’S BOWLING All five of the nation's top teams rolled into the Baltimore area and all five competed well at the Morgan State Invitational. So well, in fact, that they finished, one through five, in the exact order they are ranked in the current National Tenpins Coaches Association (NTCA) poll. That means the fourth ranked Lady Hawks finished fourth. They sported an 8-2 mark and ran their season total up to 90-28. Maria Rodriguez was the star individually for UMES as she posted a pin fall of 1,020 over five games and averaged a 204. Only two bowlers were better than her on the day, both from no. 2 Nebraska. She was just nine pins behind second place Erin McCarthy and 39 behind top finisher Cassie Leuthold. Still her third place finish earned her All-Tournament honors as she posted three games of 200 or better. Jamie Culbreth posted the high game of the event for UMES with a 245 against Elmhurst and followed it with a 213 over SFC. Katherine Brown tallied a 235 vs. Bowie State and Martha Perez posted a 201 against the Jennies of Central Missouri. UPCOMING COMPETITIONS Baseball will face Lehigh University at home on February 25 in a double header. The first pitch will be thrown at 12 p.m. The men’s and women’s basketball teams continue their road trip in the sunshine state, travelling to MEAC rival Bethune-Cookman University on February 23. Tipoff for the Lady Hawks is set for 5:30 p.m. with the men to follow at 7:30 p.m. Women’s bowling has one more tournament before championship play starts with the ECAC, MEAC and NCAA titles at stake. They travel to the Holiday Classic in Bessemer, Ala. February 28 through March 1, 2009. |
