Sports update April 19

Softball enjoys home cooking

The 12th-ranked softball team (28-6) is in the midst of an eight-game home stand, boosted by a pair of doubleheader sweeps of Harris-Stowe State University and Fontbonne University April 17 and April 18.

Senior shortstop Megan Fieser batted .600 (9-15) with four RBIs and four stolen bases in the four games. Fieser was 3-for-7 with an RBI in the sweep over Harris-Stowe, and then was 6-for-8 with three RBIs in the two-game sweep over Fontbonne. She also set the WUSTL career stolen bases record April 17, upping her total to 62.

Junior pitcher Claire Voris and sophomore hurler Olivia Cook each picked up a pair of victories while allowing just one earned run in 10 innings pitched.

The Bears continues their eight-game home stand on Wednesday, April 21, at 4 p.m., against Westminster College. Both games will be broadcast live on stretchinternet.com/wustlschedule.html.

Men’s tennis defeats UMSL

The No. 2 men’s tennis team picked up a 7-2 victory at Division II University of Missouri-St. Louis April 14 at the UMSL Tennis Courts.

The team is on a roll. Heading into the University Athletic Association Championships this weekend, April 23-25, in Pittsburgh, the Bears have won four straight matches and have improved their overall record to 11-3.

10,000 meter-fun for both men and women

The men’s and women’s outdoor track and field teams each saw NCAA Division III outdoor championship automatic qualifying times in the 10,000-meter race April 16 at the Augustana Meet of Champions in Rock Island, Ill.

Junior Dave Spandorfer broke the school record in the 10,000 with a time of 30:19.99, which automatically qualifies him to compete at the NCAA meet in May.

On the women’s side, junior Taryn Surtees posted an automatic 10,000-meter mark of 35:45.78, which will give her a chance to earn All-America honors in the event for a second year in a row.

Sophomore Michael Burnstein also had an impressive performance in the 10,000 with a provisional time of 30:27.58, which would have been a new school record if not for Spandorfer’s run.

Both teams return to action for the 2010 University Athletic Association Championships, this weekend, April 24-25, at Bushyhead Track.

Women’s golf places fifth at Spring Fling

Freshman Hannah Buck fired a five-over 77 on the second day of the Illinois Wesleyan University Spring Fling April 17-18 to lead the No. 13 women’s golf team to a fifth place finish. Buck rallied from an 88 on day one to finish in a tied for 22nd place with a 165.

Sophomore Katie Homa also tied for 22nd place, shooting a career-best 36-hole score of 165 (85-80). The 18-hole score of 80 on day two was also a career-low for Homa. Senior Kristina Zeschin also had a top-30 finish, completing the two-day event in 30th place with a 168 (82-86). Freshman Melanie Walsh (38th place, 84-86, 170) and junior Kathleen Pettinato (DQ-89) also competed for the Bears, while sophomore Sarah Miller competed as an individual and tied for 52nd place (175, 92-83).

The women’s golf team, ranked 17th in the NCAA Division III head-to-head rankings, will await word to see if it is selected to the 2010 NCAA Division III Women’s Golf Championship May 11-14 in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.

The 20 teams and six individuals (106 participants total) will be announced at 7 p.m. Monday, May 3, on ncaa.com.

Dender wins 100th tennis match

The No. 14 women’s tennis team posted a 2-1 record and finished fifth at the 2010 University Athletic Association Championship held April 16-18 in Cleveland.

The Bears were upset in the opening round by the University of Rochester, 5-4, but bounced back with a 6-3 win over New York University in the consolation round and 6-1 against Brandeis University in fifth-place match.

Senior Allison Dender posted a 6-0 record over the weekend to become just the 17th player in program history to pass 100 career victories. In four years on the Danforth Campus, Dender has a 102-62 overall record (.622), and is 54-28 all-time in singles and 46-34 in doubles.

WUSTL (13-5) returns to action at 3:30 p.m. Friday, April 23, when it hosts McKendree University at the Tao Tennis Center.

Baseball pitchers dominant but Bears split two

A pair of baseball hurlers turned in back-to-back dominating performances on the mound but only earned a split on a pair of games last week.

Junior Bryce Hrovat struck out 14 in eight innings of work as the Bears posted a 9-1 win over Knox College April 18, in Galesburg, Ill. Hrovat went on to earn University Athletic Association Athlete of the Week honors for his performance.

The next day, April 19, senior Jeremy Rogoff fanned a career-best 15 batters in nine innings of action against Webster University, but it was not enough to lead his team to a win as the Bears lost 4-1 to the Gorloks.

WUSTL (17-13) returns to action at 3 p.m. April 20, at Millikin University, then comes home to host the University of Chicago for four games April 24-25 at Kelly Field. The doubleheaders begin at noon on both days.