SLIAC Weekly Release - April 1
Posted: Apr 01, 2015

SLIAC Weekly Release - April 1

This week in the SLIAC is a weekly review of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. It recaps the prior weeks results and highlights upcoming events. You can also find the latest standings, statistics, schedules and awards.

HEADLINES
 Getting to Know...Bree Peterson (March 27, 2015)
 Each week we talk with a student from around the SLIAC to get to know what it is like to be a NCAA Division III student-athlete. This week we talked with Bree Peterson, a softball player, from Westminster. You can see Bree overcome her fear of interviews and get to know her HERE

Spalding Baseball Sets D III Strikeout Record (March 29, 2015)
The Spalding University baseball team split a doubleheader against Westminster College on Sunday, losing the first game 11-1, but bounced back to win the nightcap, 5-4 in a 15 inning marathon, in which the Golden Eagles hurled a new NCAA D-III record 26 strikeouts.....MORE

SLIAC Heavy Field Competes at Gorlok Spring Invitational (March 30, 2015)
 Webster University hosted the Gorlok Spring Invitational this weekend, with nearly half the field consisting of teams from the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Of the 16 teams in the field for the two day tournament, six were members of the SLIAC.....MORE

Greenville Men's Track at #13 in National Rankings (March 31, 2015)
One week after debuting in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national preseason poll the Greenville College men's track and field team found themselves ranked #13 in the week one poll.....MORE

SLIAC Game of the Week: MacMurray at Greenville (March 31, 2015)
It is never too early to start looking at the postseason and this week's SLIAC Game of the Week has possible implications on the baseball tournament as MacMurray faces Greenville in a three game series this weekend.....MORE

SLIAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

The SLIAC Players of the Week are honored for their performances during the week. Click on the sport link below to see the full list of 2014-15 Players of the Week. For this week's Player of the Week release - HERE

Baseball - Patrick Shuff, Fontbonne University (Hitter)
                Jimi Keating, Spalding University (Pitcher)
Softball -  Tiffany Samsoe, Greenville College (Hitter)
                Alyson Hahn, Westminster College (Pitcher)
Men's Tennis - Jason Wissman, Principia College
Women's Tennis - Monica Behrle, Webster University
Men's Track and Field - Kyle Jenkins, Spalding University (Field)
                                     Jason Hickson, Webster University (Track)
Women's Track and Field - Lyssa Winslow, Principia College (Field)

Baseball l Softball l Men's Tennis l Women's Tennis l Men's Track & Field l Women's Track & Field

SLIAC SPRING STANDINGS

BASEBALL       SOFTBALL    
School SLIAC Overall   School SLIAC Overall
East Division       Fontbonne 4-0 11-9
Greenville 3-1 5-10
   Greenville
 2-0 11-6
Spalding 4-2 9-6   Eureka
 3-1
 6-10
MacMurray 5-3 9-10   Westminster 3-1
 4-11
Principia 2-7 3-11   Iowa Wesleyan
 4-2 8-6
Blackburn 1-4 5-12
   Spalding 4-2 5-11
West Division

  MacMurray 2-2 6-11
Fontbonne 7-0 12-9
   Webster 1-5
 3-16
Westminster 4-1
 9-5   Principia 1-7
 4-15
Iowa Wesleyan
 4-5 10-9   Blackburn 0-4 0-12
Webster
 2-3
 12-8  


Eureka 1-7 1-9  


AROUND THE SLIAC

The Blackburn baseball team picked up their first conference win of the season in an exciting fashion earlier this week when they topped MacMurray 6-5 in nine innings. After MacMurray grabbed a 5-4 lead in th top of the ninth the Beavers plated two runs in the bottom half on a walk off double by Jose Osorio.
The Eureka track and field team competed in their first outdoor meet this season with the men's team taking 10th and the women finishing 13th. The Red Devil men's 4x100 team of Collin Aimone, Mike Sain, Matt Mogged, and Garrett Anderson took third place while Cooper Elam also picked up a third place finish in the pole vault. Rebecka Williamson highlighted the women with an eighth place finish in the 100 meter hurdles.
Griffin catcher Patrick Shuff earned SLIAC Hitter of the Week honors after playing an instrumental role in helping his team remain undefeated in conference play. Shuff hit .545 on the week with a game tying home run against MacMurray, finishing the game 5-for-5. On the week he was 6-for-11 with a .909 slugging percentage as Fontbonne stands at 7-0 in SLIAC action.
The Greenville track and field teams had a strong showing at the Wash U Invite, with the men's team placing 10th and the women finishing 12th. The men took home first place finishes in both the 100 meter race (Bruce Gray) and the 4x100 relay while the women's top finisher was Chelsea Giles with a third place finish in the 200 meter race. The Panthers men's team is currently ranked #13 in the nation.

The softball Tigers are coming a pair of split double headers last weekend, splitting with both Webster and Principia. Iowa Wesleyan is currently 8-6 overall and 4-2 in conference play and will take on Westminster and Fontbonne this week. Pitcher Samantha McIlwain has already notched five wins for the Tigers this season and ranks fifth in the conference in strikeouts with 45.
The MacMurray softball team will be put to the test this week as they are set to face the top two teams in the SLIAC standings; Fontbonne and Greenville. MacMurray is currently 6-11 overall and 2-2 in the SLIAC, coming off a sweep of Principia College last weekend. The Highlander offense has been on a roll of late, with two players (Stephanie Watkins and Natalie Foster) in the top five of the conference in batting average.
Jason Wissman, a senior from Westlake, Ohio, was named the SLIAC Men's Tennis Player of the Week. Wissman went 2-0 on the week with wins in both single and doubles action. Wissman started out with an 8-1 win at the #2 doubles position, teaming with Daniel Drake for the win. He continued with a 6-0, 6-0 blanking against Webster to go undefeated on the week.

It was quite a week for the Spalding baseball team, sweeping nationally ranked Webster on Saturday and then setting the NCAA Division III record for strikeouts on Sunday against Westminster. Spalding recorded 26 strikeouts in their 15 inning win over the Blue Jays with pitcher Jimi Keating recording the record breaking strikeout. Keating was also named the SLIAC Pitcher of the Week for his efforts.
Webster senior Jason Hickson had an impressive performance this past weekend at the Wash U Invite, earning SLIAC Men's Track and Field Player of the Week honors. Hickson took first place in the 10,000 meter event, besting a field of 35 runners with a time of 32:44.77. He finished more than five seconds ahead of the nearest competitor, setting a school record.
The Blue Jay softball team made a schedule change this weekend, giving them a break during a busy week. The Blue Jays moved Friday's games against Webster to Monday. This move means Westminster will not have to play three consecutive days of double headers as they are set to face Iowa Wesleyan on Wednesday and Grinnell on Thursday. Westminster is currently 4-11 overall and 3-1 in the SLIAC.

THIS WEEK'S SLIAC SCHEDULE

To see a complete schedule of this week's SLIAC action click HERE

KEEP UP WITH THE SLIAC ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Be sure to keep up with the SLIAC using various social media tools. You can follow us on Twitter (@sliac) HERE or Facebook (St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) HERE

Be sure to check out the SLIAC You Tube Channel. There you will find our weekly Feature Friday series where we talk with student-athletes from around the conference and help you get to know them outside of athletics and give you an idea of what it is like to be a NCAA Division III student-athlete. Last week we talked with Bree Peterson, a softball player, from Westminster College. You can watch the video HERE