College notebook: Schmidt’s outstanding senior season cut short
The Southeastern University women’s basketball team had a strong chance to win the national championship at the NAIA Division II tournament that started last week in Sioux City, Iowa.
The Fire, after all, were ranked No. 1 in the nation as little as two weeks ago, seeded No. 1 in its bracket at the 32-team national tournament and won its opening game in Sioux City by a whopping 52 points.
Everything was going well for Southeastern and its standout senior center Marlena Schmidt, a native of Eighty Four and a Ringgold graduate.
Southeastern, located in Lakeland, Fla., was putting the finishing touches on a 107-55 thumping of Ohio Christian in the opening round Thursday morning when the NAIA made the decision to cancel the balance of the tournament because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The win left Southeastern with a 27-3 record and wondering what might have happened if the tournament had played out.
Schmidt helped the Fire to a 16-rebound advantage over Ohio Christian and a 62-24 scoring edge from the lane as she had her ninth double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds. She also blocked six shots.
It was the final collegiate game for Schmidt, who was named first team All-Sun Conference for the first time in her career this season after averaging 11.0 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Schmidt shot 63 percent from the field and led the conference in blocked shots with 84.
She scored 888 points and grabbed 659 rebounds in three seasons at Southeastern after transferring from West Virginia.
Schmidt also was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team. Schmidt holds a 3.84 GPA as she pursues an MBA in Executive Leadership.
In softball
Linda Rush was off to another big season for Drexel.
A Canon-McMillan graduate, Rush hit .461 across five games at the Pirate Invitational in Norfolk, Va., March 6-8, hitting four home runs with five RBI and nine runs. She ended the weekend with 53 career homers, padding her Colonial Athletic Association record. The senior homered twice in the Dragons’ 9-1 win over UMBC, matching the program’s single-game record with the sixth multi-homer game of her career.
Rush, a senior, was leading Drexel with a .464 batting average through 10 games and had a a .595 on-base percentage.
Last year, Rush set CAA and Drexel single-season records with 80 RBI and 71 runs. She also holds the Drexel single-season records for batting average (.423), at-bats (189), runs (71), hits (80), doubles (19), home runs (22), RBI (80), total bases (165), slugging percentage (.873) and walks (38).
Drexel was to play in the Rainbow Rahine Classic in Honolulu starting last Thursday. The Colonial Athletic Association announced Friday that it had canceled all competitions for the remainder of the winter and spring sports seasons.
Freshman catcher Brin Hunter made an immediate impact for Waynesburg University during its spring break trip last week. For her efforts, Hunter, a West Alexander native and McGuffey graduate, was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week.
Hunter put together a .368 batting average over seven games at the Fast Pitch Dreams Spring Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C. She scored six runs and had a pair of RBI. Hunter drew a pair of walks and was hit by a pitch as she posted a .435 on-base percentage. She also was outstanding behind the plate, going error-free with 22 putouts, six assists and throwing out 3 of 10 base stealers.
In wrestling
Bucknell’s Zach Hartman qualified for the NCAA Wrestling Championships that were to be held March 19-21 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. It was to be the second trip to nationals for Hartman, a sophomore 165-pounder from Belle Vernon.
Hartman placed second at the EIWA Championships that were held at Lehigh University.
Hartman advanced to the EIWA finals in dramatic fashion, edging second-seeded Philip Conigliaro of Harvard in the sudden victory period. Hartman overcame an early 4-1 deficit, evening the score at 6-6 to force overtime. Hartman picked up the equalizing takedown early enough in the third period to erase Conigliaro’s riding time advantage. Just 22 seconds into overtime, following a scramble, Hartman picked up a takedown for an 8-6 victory.
In the finals, Hartman lost by 4-2 decision to top-seeded Tanner Skidgel of Navy.
Mitch Hartman joined his brother on the podium, earning a sixth-place showing for Bucknell at 174 pounds.
Washington & Jefferson’s Daniel Florentino, a junior 141-pounder, was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Wrestler of the Week for Jan. 27-Feb. 2.
A McMurray resident and Peters Township graduate, Florentino received the honor after going 3-0 for the week. He won by fall over Penn College’s Matthew Carpenter and Lackawanna’s Brandon Judge, and won an 8-6 decision over SUNY Oswego’s William Hardin.
Florentino had a 16-8 record that included six wins by fall.
In baseball
Tor Sehnert, a junior outfielder from McMurray and a Peters Township graduate, was off to a good start at Florida Southern after transferring to the Lakeland school from Polk State Junior College.
Sehnert was batting .294 in 10 games for the Mocs. He was 10-for-34 with seven of his hits going for extra bases, including three home runs and four doubles. Sehnert’s .778 slugging percentage was the best on the team.
Chandler Palyas, a redshirt senior outfielder and Canon-McMillan graduate, is the third-leading hitter for Clarion.
Palyas was batting .286 through 15 games and almost half of his 18 hits had gone for extra bases. Palyas has three doubles, two triples and three home runs. His 13 RBI and four stolen bases each are team highs.
In the final game before the season was suspended, Palyas drove in five runs, including a grand slam, in an 11-7 loss to St. Rose.
In basketball
Chartiers-Houston graduate Alexa Williamson finished her second season at Temple.
A sophomore forward, Williamson averaged 6.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game for the Owls, who finished with a 16-15 overall record and 7-9 mark in American Athletic Conference games.
Williamson played in 30 games, starting 24. She shot 42 percent from the field, was second on the team with 17 blocked shots and third with 19 steals. Her highest-scoring game was 12 points, which she had three times. She had a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds in a game against Philadelphia rival Penn.
Compiled by Chris Dugan.