Twenty-One Named to MASCAC Spring Academic Honor Roll

Monday, June 8, 2009 

ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Corporation spring Academic Honor Roll, which notes academic excellence by student-athletes, contains 442 honorees as announced by Executive Director Ken Andrews.

 The Honor Roll comprises those student-athletes of sophomore class standing or higher who participated in a varsity-level sport and registered a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 (4.00 scale) or higher and completed the playing season in good standing.

 Messiah led in selections with 70 student-athletes, followed by Elizabethtown with 49. Misericordia and King’s tied for third with 39 student-athletes. Lebanon Valley was fifth with 38, while Manhattanville, Widener and Eastern tied for sixth with 32 student-athletes on the list. Lycoming was ninth with 29 student-athletes. Arcadia and FDU-Florham tied for tenth with 25. DeSales and Wilkes each had 24, followed by Albright (21), Delaware Valley (20) and Alvernia (13).

Featured on the spring honor roll are several standouts including First Team All-Conference selections Jason Dunkelberger (Baseball), and Lisa Archibald (Women’s Tennis).  Also featured on this year’s list was Second Team All-Conference selection Marissa Cooperman (Women’s Tennis).

Student-athletes are selected from baseball, softball, men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, men’s track and field, women’s track and field, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and golf.

Click here for Albright honorees

Click here for all honorees

Three from Baseball Earn All-Conference Honors

Thursday, May 7, 2009 

ANNVILLE, Pa. - On Thursday, the Commonwealth Conference announced the 2009 all-conference honorees.  Earning a place on this year’s first team was senior third baseman Jason Dunkelberger (Shillington, PA/Governor Mifflin).  Senior pitcher Tim Flannery (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) and junior pitcher Casey Lawrence (McSherrystown, PA/Delone Catholic) each earned a place on the all-conference second team.

At Right:  Jason Dunkelberger

Dunkelberger’s first team selection comes on the heels of his best overall season to date in the Albright uniform.  The Shillington, Pa. native led the Lions in multiple categories at the plate.  In his team leading 131 at-bats, Dunkelberger produced a career best 42 hits, 10 doubles, five homeruns, and 37 RBI’s.  He was also responsible for 27 runs scored and finished the year off with a team high .321 average.  Dunkelberger’s slugging percentage of .511 also led the Lions offense.  Defensively, Dunkelberger was responsible for 25 putouts, while also earning 62 assists. 

In his final season with the Lions, Flannery put together one of the strongest finishes on the mound in recent years.  Currently the all-time career and season strikeout leader, Flannery will leave Albright with 205 career strikeouts and had 83 strikeouts (18th in the nation) in ’09.  The lefty starter threw a total of 75 1/3 innings in 13 appearances on the hill, and ended the season with a 3.35 ERA and a 4-5 record.

At Left:  Tim Flannery

To cap off his amazing season, Flannery threw a complete game to help Albright defeat Elizabethtown College in day one of the Commonwealth Conference tournament.  A one time Commonwealth Conference Player of the Week, Flannery was also named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Pitcher of the Week as well.

Lawrence’s all-conference selection this season is the second of his standout career.  The righty starter made a total of 12 appearances this season, throwing a combined of 76 2/3 innings.  He closed out his junior season with a team best 2.82 ERA and 6-1 record.  Lawrence also added his name to the record books, tying the single season shutout record of two.  His 73 strikeouts ranked him second on the team in that category, and his five walks allowed this season ranks him second in the nation for total walks allowed in a nine inning game.  A two time Commonwealth Conference Pitcher of the Week, Lawrence was also named ECAC DIII South Pitcher of the Week.

At Right:  Casey Lawrence

Albright ended their 2009 season with their second straight appearance in the Commonwealth Conference tournament and an 18-18-1 overall record.  In the conference the Lions placed fourth with a 6-4 record.  One of the true highlights to the season was when the red and white shutout Kean University (NJ) who at the time was ranked fourth in Division III baseball.

 Baseball Eliminated from Conference Tournament after Marathon Day

Friday, May 1, 2009 

WEST LAWN, Pa. - It truly was a crazy day for the Albright College Baseball team as they competed for a spot in the 2009 Commonwealth Conference Tournament Championship game at Owls Field at Ted Palka Park. 

Unfortunately, the Lions championship dreams were cut shot following a 4-3, 13 inning loss at the hands of Widener University and a 10-0 loss at the hands of Elizabethtown College.  Combined the Lions played over seven hours and 22 innings of baseball Friday evening.

At Right: Casey Lawrence

In game one of the doubleheader, junior Casey Lawrence (McSherrystown, PA/Delone Catholic) stepped on the mound to throw nine of the 13 innings played.  The 2-time conference player of the week recorded four strikeouts and surrendered three runs (2 earned) on six hits.  He allowed only one walk to bring his season total to five walks in 76 2/3 innings pitched.  Closing out Friday’s game one marathon was Kevin Butler (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Coughlin). 

Butler threw 3 2/3 innings and totaled one strikeout, while only giving up three hits.  The run allowed in the bottom of the 13th inning was unearned following a questionable error. 

At the plate the Lions were held to six hits on the day.  Freshman Tommy Canuso (Aston, PA/Salesianum) went 1-for-5 with one RBI and one run scored.  Canuso’s lone hit was a double down the left field line in the top of the second that scored Jason Dunkelberger (Shillington, PA/Governor Mifflin). 

Dunkelberger initially started that inning off with a double of his own down the left field line.  The senior third baseman was 1-for-4 in game one.  Sophomore Matt Pannella (Phoenixville, PA/Phoenixville) led the team with a pair of RBI’s and recorded one hit in his six at-bats. 

Widener started the contest off with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first.  Following Canuso’s RBI double, the Lions made it a one run ball game.  Albright then evened the score in the fifth on a RBI fielder’s choice by Pannella.  Moving into the final three innings of play, the Lion put up their final run of the day in the top of the seventh to take their first lead.

The Pride responded right back in the bottom half of the seventh to even the score at 3-3.  Albright had an opening to take the lead in the top of the ninth with a man on third base, but was stopped dead in their tracks by the Pride’s defense. 

Moving into the extra innings, the Lions dodged a major bullet in the 11th when the Pride had bases loaded with only one out.  After a quick meeting, Butler settled in and recorded back-to-back outs to get out of the inning unscathed. 

After a quiet 12th inning, emotions ran high in the 13th.  Albright’s lone base runner in the top half of the inning was Mike Nolan (Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin) who took a fastball off his hand to earn the base.  Despite the slip-up Widener pitcher Rick Kazigan downed the next two batters to keep the score even at 3-3. 

Proving to be the downfall for the Lions in the bottom half of the inning were two crucial errors that resulted in the game winning run.  In their second bases loaded situation, shortstop Tom Mahoney drove in the game winning run.  The game winning run was unearned following a very questionable call at second base. 

The win advanced Widener to Saturday’s championship game, while the Lions stuck around to play their second straight contest against the Blue Jays of Elizabethtown. 

Albright tried everything they could to rebound after the tough loss, but the Blue Jays who were very well rested jumped all over the Lions.  In the nightcap, Elizabethtown totaled 15 hits and 10 runs to secure the final spot in the conference championship. 

On the hill freshman pitcher Tyler Storms (Fleetwood, PA/Fleetwood) threw five complete innings and surrendered five runs (4 earned) on seven hits.  The lefty fanned a total of three batters and walked an additional five.  Offensively, Albright was held to just five hits in game two. 

With the game two loss the Lions closed out their 2009 season with an overall record of 18-18-1, 7-8 in the Commonwealth Conference.  Saturday’s doubleheader also marked the final two games for Dunkelberger and pitcher Tim Flannery (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley). 

Flannery will end his career as the all-time single season and career strikeout leader at Albright.  He was also named the conference’s pitcher of the week and was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Pitcher of the Week prior to the start of his dominating game winning appearance against Elizabethtown on Thursday.

Dunkelberger ended his career at Albright having the best season of his four year career.  The third baseman, led the Lions in a variety of categories including home runs (5), doubles (10), hits (42), runs scored (27), at-bats (131), and RBI’s (37).

Game 1
Albright College 3, Widener University 4 (13 inn.)
Box Score

Game 2
Albright College 0, Elizabethtown College 10
Box Score

Flannery Paces #4 Baseball Past #1 Elizabethtown in Conference Tournament

Thursday, April 30, 2009 

WEST LAWN, Pa. - In day one of the 2009 Commonwealth Conference tournament senior lefty Tim Flannery (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) guided the number four ranked Lions to a 6-4 upset victory over the number one ranked Blue Jays of Elizabethtown College Thursday afternoon at Owls Field at Ted Palka Park.

With the win, the Lions improved their overall record to 18-16-1, while Elizabethtown fell to 23-13 overall.

At Right:  Senior Pitcher Tim Flannery was named the National
Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Pitcher of the Week

Prior to the start of Thursday’s crucial tournament match-up Flannery was announced as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Pitcher of the Week.  The national weekly honor is given to the best Division III pitcher and player every Thursday.  To qualify for the national honor, the player must first be named their conference’s pitcher or player of the week. 

The Mechanicsburg, Pa. native threw all nine innings for the red and white and totaled 10 strikeouts to bring his record setting season total to 83.  Within those nine innings, Flannery surrendered just four runs on eight hits, while only walking one batter.

For the top ranked Blue Jays, senior righty Sam Heaps threw seven complete innings allowing six runs on nine hits, while also walking one other.  Heaps also fanned a total of nine Albright hitters.  Closing out the contest for the Etown was Matt Kutz.  Kutz threw two innings and did not surrender a hit or a run.

Offensively, the Lions were paced by senior third baseman Jason Dunkelberger (Shillington, PA/Governor Mifflin) and sophomore shortstop Justin Danser (Ewing, NJ/Ewing).  Dunkelberger went 2-for-5 on the day with one RBI and two runs, while Danser went 3-for-5 with two runs.

Despite striking out in his first and last at-bats, Dunkelberger recorded back-to-back hits in the middle part of the contest to help put Albright ahead on the scoreboard.  His second hit of the afternoon was a one run home run over the right field fence that put Albright up 4-3 in the top of the fifth. 

In the fourth, the Lions put up three runs to make it a 3-2 ball game, after Elizabethtown put a pair of runs in the bottom half of the second.  The Blue Jays evened the score at 3-3 in the bottom half of the fourth on a RBI groundout by Matt Reade. 

Albright went on to take their second lead of the afternoon in the seventh, and then added to it with another run in the top of the eighth. 

On the day Albright gave up just two errors and totaled nine hits.  Elizabethtown was charged with four errors and combined for eight hits.

The Blue Jays will take on Lebanon Valley College at 11 a.m. tomorrow morning in game three of the tournament.  The loser of the contest will be eliminated from this year’s tournament.  The Dutchmen were defeated by Widener in game two of Thursday’s doubleheader by the final score of 16-2 by Widener University.

Widener will face Albright at 3 p.m. at Owls Field in a game that will send one team to the championship game on Saturday.  The loser of the Albright/Widener game will take on the winner of the Lebanon Valley/Elizabethtown College at 7:30 p.m. to determine the final team that will play in the championship game. 

Live stats will be available for all three contests tomorrow afternoon at http://www.albright.edu/athletics/livestats/xlive.htm.

Albright College 6, Elizabethtown College 4
Box Score