Claremont, Calif. (March 31, 2014) — This week in Sagehens Athletics saw Women’s Lacrosse sweep three non-conference games, and three Pitzer runners for the Men’s Track and Field team take first place at a SCIAC Quad meet with Occidental.
Paul Messana ’17 ran the fastest time in the nation so far this year in the 800 meters (1:52.68) to take first place at this weekend’s SCIAC Quad meet
Women’s Lacrosse finished off a 7-1 month of March by sweeping DePauw, Carthage and North Central at home to reach the 10-win plateau this season (10-3). The Sagehens had little trouble in rolling to the three wins, defeating DePauw 16-8, Carthage 18-7 and North Central 13-8. Jana London ’14 had eight goals in the Carthage win, two away from her career high set earlier this season against Puget Sound, while London and Sarah Markowitz ’16 tied for the team lead with five goals apiece in the win over DePauw. The Sagehens return to SCIAC play this weekend with a road game at CMS on Saturday.
Women’s Tennis received a nice bump in the national rankings this week, surging up from No. 12 to No. 6 after a two-week stretch that saw the Sagehens defeat the No. 6 (Middlebury), No. 7 (Bowdoin) and No. 8 (Carnegie Mellon) teams in the nation. The team rolled to a pair of SCIAC wins, defeating Caltech 8-1 on Friday and Occidental 9-0 on Saturday, but fell to No. 2 Williams 8-1 in its second match on Saturday. Mallory Roth ’17 saw her first action in the singles lineup and picked up a win against Caltech, while Marie Fleming ’16 and Claire Willey ’14 contributed to doubles wins at Occidental. The Sagehens host No. 5 CMS this weekend in a big SCIAC battle at Pauley Tennis Complex.
Men’s Tennis also jumped in the national rankings from No. 16 to No. 13 and nearly picked up a signature win on Tuesday, earning a match point with a chance to defeat No. 2 Williams (the defending national champion), before the Ephs prevailed in a narrow 5-4 win. The Sagehens bounced back from that loss to roll past No. 19 UC Santa Cruz 8-1 on Friday. Graham Maassen ’17 earned singles wins against both Williams and UC Santa Cruz, coming back to win the final five points in a third-set tiebreaker against UC Santa Cruz for a 10-5 win. Jacob Yasgoor ’17 and Maassen also played 1-2 in singles against Caltech and came away with wins, while Christopher Wiechert ’14 was a perfect 3-0 in singles this week without losing a set. Men’s Tennis hosts Redlands in a key SCIAC battle on Friday at 2 p.m., before traveling across the street to face No. 1 CMS on Saturday.
Men’s Track and Field and Women’s Track and Field competed at Occidental in a SCIAC Quad meet, along with CMS and Caltech. Paul Messana ’17 highlighted the meet by running the fastest 800-meter time in Division III so far this season, moving into fifth in program history with a 1:52.68. He wasn’t the only Pitzer runner to win his event as Gregory Hook ’14 ran a 49.01 in the 400, the eighth fastest time in Division III this year, and Bennett Kopperud ’16 was the top finisher in the 400-meter hurdles. Rhea Jayachandran ’16 was second in the 100-meter hurdles and third in the 400-meter hurdles on the women’s side.
Softball picked up a couple of wins on the week, as Eden Griffen ’17 earned a pitching victory in a 7-4 win over La Verne and Ashley Morello ’15 played a key role in the seventh inning. With the score tied 4-4, Morello led off the top of the seventh with a single and came around to score the eventual winning run. In the bottom of the seventh, she crashed into the portable fence in deep center field to make a spectacular catch for the final out of the game. Morello batted 6-for-12 over four SCIAC games this weekend and is now hitting .456 on the year.
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This Week’s Schedule
Home Events In Bold
Wednesday, April 2
Men’s Golf at Chapman, 12 noon
Women’s Water Polo at Redlands, 7 p.m.
Friday, April 4
Men’s Track and Field at CA/NV Championships, 10 a.m. (at UC San Diego)
Women’s Track and Field at CA/NV Championships, 10 a.m. (at UC San Diego)
Men’s Tennis (H) vs. Redlands, 2 p.m.
Softball (H) vs. Chapman, 2 p.m. (DH)
Baseball (H) vs. Caltech, 3 p.m.
Saturday, April 5
Men’s Golf at SCIAC #2, 9 a.m. (Empire Lakes)
Women’s Golf at SCIAC #2, 9 a.m. (Empire Lakes)
Women’s Tennis (H) vs. CMS, 10 a.m.
Men’s Track and Field at CA/NV Championships, 10 a.m. (at UC San Diego)
Women’s Track and Field at CA/NV Championships, 10 a.m. (at UC San Diego)
Baseball at Caltech, 11 a.m. (DH)
Softball at Redlands, 12 p.m. (DH)
Women’s Lacrosse at CMS, 1 p.m.
Men’s Tennis at CMS, 5 p.m.
Sunday, April 6
Men’s Golf at SCIAC #2, 9 a.m. (Empire Lakes)
Women’s Golf at SCIAC #2, 9 a.m. (Empire Lakes)
