Thursday, March 7th, 2019
College Notes
Lonsway looking good for Buckeyes
By Gary R. Rasberry
Submitted Photo
Celina graduate Seth Lonsway has been impressive in his first few games for Ohio State. The redshirt freshman struck out 11 batters in his most recent outing.
While the weather has been a bit dismissive for outdoor sports in this area, the college baseball season is well underway with many teams heading south to start the season.
Ohio State is 6-5 so far on its southern swing of the schedule.
Redshirt freshman Seth Lonsway has been impressive so far. The Celina graduate did take a tough loss in his last outing on March 1 against Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach, Florida, allowing three earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, but his 11 strikeouts were the most by a Buckeyes pitcher since Alex Wimmers struck out 11 Penn State batters in 2010.
Lonsway is 1-2 with a 6.39 earned run average in three starts for the Buckeyes. In 12 2/3 innings, Lonsway has struck out 22 batters.
The Buckeyes will play three teams in Greenville, South Carolina, this weekend. Ohio State plays Furman on Friday and then faces Big Ten foe Michigan State in a non-conference game on Saturday before taking on Western Carolina on Sunday. The Buckeyes open home play at Bill Davis Stadium with a three-game weekend series with Lipscomb starting March 15.
Meanwhile, the University of Alabama-Huntsville has started the season at 11-6.
One of the big contributors to the Chargers' success is junior Malave Bettinger. The Coldwater graduate, who started at Toledo before playing last season for Sinclair Community College, has been hitting the ball hard. Bettinger leads the team in batting average (.435) and RBIs (23) and shares the lead in doubles with six. Bettinger, thanks to 18 walks and being hit twice by pitches, also leads the team with a .594 on-base percentage.
Thobe wrapping up play at ODU
Ohio Dominican is 4-4 so far this season after a 17-4 loss to Northwood in Chillicothe.
Senior Derek Thobe (Coldwater) has made two appearances this in the season, pitching three innings with a 12.00 ERA.
The Panthers take on Mercyhurst on Friday in Wilson, South Carolina.
SWIMMING/DIVING
Weitzel helps Dukes to A-10 title
Duquesne won its second straight Atlantic-10 swimming and diving championship at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
Dukes' sophomore Sawyer Weitzel (Celina) finished eighth in the 1-meter diving competition but did not qualify for the finals in the 3-meter competition.
Keck earns pair of podium finishes
West Virginia University's Caleb Keck (Coldwater) earned sixth-place finishes in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions at the Big 12 championships held at the University of Texas.
Borgerding wraps up for Falcons
Bowling Green's Nikki Borgerding (Minster) wrapped up the season at the Mid-American Conference championships.
Borgerding swam legs of the fourth-place finishing 200-meter medley relay and fifth-place 400 medley relay.
TRACK AND FIELD
Sutter 15th at NAIA
Indiana Wesleyan sophomore Paige Sutter (Celina) finished 15th in the shot put at the NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships held in Brookings, South Dakota.
Sutter's top effort of 12.94 meters (42 feet, 5 1/2 inches) was not enough to advance out of the prelims.
Heckman third at HL meet
Wright State senior Maria Heckman (Minster) finished third in the pole vault at the Horizon League Indoor Championships held in Youngstown.
Heckman topped out at 3.71 meters (12-2). Olivia Kane of Oakland University won the event at 12-6.
Wenning fifth in pentathlon
Colorado senior Michaela Wenning (Celina) finished fifth in the pentathlon at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation's Indoor Championships held at the University of Washington.
Wenning finished with 3,733 points, gaining her most points in the 60-meter hurdles (927) and 800 run (800).
The Buffaloes finished fourth in the team standings
The outdoor season gets underway with the Terry Quiller Classic on the Colorado campus in Boulder starting March 15.
SOFTBALL
Richard now coaching Bishops
Former Ohio Wesleyan softball standout Kayla Richard (Minster) is serving as assistant coach in the softball program at her alma mater.
The team opens its season on Monday in Florida against Mount St. Jospeh.
Wehrman off to hot start
Defiance College senior Rachel Wehrman (Minster) has started out strong for the Yellow Jackets.
In four appearances (three starts), Wehrman has three of the four wins for the Yellow Jackets (4-4) this season. Wehrman is 3-2 with a 1.49 ERA in 29 innings pitched this season.
