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Three Scots Named NCAC Players of The Week
Three College of Wooster student-athletes were selected as the North Coast Athletic Conference Players of the Week in their respective sports this week - junior pitchers Angie Barone (Akron, Ohio / St. Thomas Aquinas) and Justin Alaburda (Medina, Ohio / Walsh Jesuit) in softball and baseball, and women's lacrosse star Megan Kennedy (Annapolis, Md. / Broadneck Senior). Barone's week may have been the most impressive, as the right-hander won all three games she started, highlighted by the first perfect game in Wooster softball history. On Wednesday (April 16), she set down all 15 batters she faced - 10 on strikeouts - before the Scots "run-ruled" Oberlin College 8-0 after five innings. It marked the third no-hitter of her career. She also pitched the first six innings of Saturday's (April 19) key 3-0 win over conference-leading Denison University, yielding no runs and just one hit before giving way to the closer. Overall, Barone combined to allow two runs on six hits and six walks, while striking out 21 in 18.0 innings pitched, which also included a 3-2 complete-game victory over Baldwin-Wallace College on Monday (April 14). This week, Wooster (15-16-1, 4-5-1 NCAC) will need more big outings from Barone, who is 58 strikeouts shy of becoming the 29th NCAA Div. III pitcher to reach the 500-strikeout plateau. The Scots, currently in fifth-place in the league standings, are looking to sneak in to the four-team NCAC Tournament, and will likely need to sweep both Hiram College (6-20, 2-8 NCAC) and Kenyon College (8-19, 4-6 NCAC) to do so. Alaburda, also Wooster's starting centerfielder when not on the mound, pitched twice last week. First, he tossed a perfect 1-2-3 ninth inning in the Scots' 14-0 loss at Ohio State University, which made him the lone Wooster pitcher who saw action on Wednesday night (April 16) to not allow a run. On Friday (April 18), Alaburda led the Scots to a 9-3 game-one victory in their four-game series with Kenyon College, as he allowed just one earned run on 10 hits while striking out six and not walking a batter over seven innings. On the season, Alaburda is 6-0 and ranks sixth in the NCAC in earned run average (2.74). He has appeared in 10 games this season, totaling 40 strikeouts over 46.0 innings pitched. Alaburda could see significant action this week, as Wooster has eight games scheduled, including six in the NCAC East, starting with a trip to Hiram College (15-13, 5-5 NCAC East) on Wednesday, April 23. Two games will be played at Robert O. Fishel Field, beginning at 1 p.m. The Scots also will host a key four-game set with Allegheny College (19-9-1, 9-1 NCAC East) this weekend (April 26-27). Kennedy, a senior who makes her presence felt on both the offensive and defensive ends of the field, tallied 11 points on nine goals and two assists during Wooster's 2-1 week. She notched a game- and season-high seven-point effort on six goals and one assist in leading the Scots to an 18-5 win over Kenyon College on Tuesday (April 15), and followed with one goal and one assist during a 6-4 upset loss to Wittenberg University on Thursday (April 17). Kennedy and Wooster rebounded, though, with a critical 9-8 victory at rival Denison University on Saturday (April 19), which gives the Scots control of their own destiny as they try and seal the No. 1 seed for the NCAC Tournament next week. She had two goals in that win. For her career, Kennedy will leave Wooster with her name etched in the record books. The three-time all-region and all-conference honoree has tallied 180 points on 133 goals and 47 assists, which puts her sixth, fifth, and fourth currently on the school's all-time scoring, goals, and assists lists, respectively. |
