Westmoreland campus clippings: Led by Osikowicz, Seton Hill softball clean up postseason awards

Jenna Osikowicz played a key role at Hempfield, helping the softball program win three WPIAL titles and two PIAA championships.

Now a senior right fielder at Seton Hill, Osikowicz brought her winning mentality to the Griffins — and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.

Osikowicz, who helped lead Seton Hill to the PSAC finals for the first time, was named the PSAC West Athlete of the Year to highlight the Griffins’ postseason awards.

Additionally, freshman Logan Hartman earned PSAC West Pitcher of the Year recognition.

Osikowicz and Hartman also made the all-conference first team, along with freshman pitcher/utility player Lauren Dellett.

Grad student Christiana Skrabak (Norwin) was a second-team pick at shortstop, and senior outfielder Nichole McClendon made the second team as an outfielder.

Heading into the conference finals, Osikowicz was hitting .407 with 57 hits and eight triples, 29 runs, 26 RBIs and 14 steals.

Hartman was 13-1 with a PSAC-low 1.19 ERA. Dellett had a .329 average and 13 RBIs, and was 13-4 with a 1.82 ERA, Skrabak was hitting .330 with 11 home runs and 31 RBIs and 32 runs, and McClendon had a .355 average.

•••

Baseball

Saint Vincent: The Bearcats made a surprising march to the PAC finals by winning two games after a first-round loss in the double-elimination tournament. The team, though, lost to the same team twice. Top-seeded Washington & Jefferson (36-1) beat the Bearcats, 7-1, and 3-0, on the way to the title.

SVC (17-18) staved off elimination twice by defeating No. 3 Franciscan, 13-4, and No. 2 Grove City, 8-5. In the Franciscan win, sophomore Jordan Sabol (Penn-Trafford) went 4 for 5, and seniors TJ Dailey and Matt Evans each had three hits as the Bearcats raked 20 hits and jumped out to a 9-3 lead after two innings.

Dailey homered and had five RBIs and junior Justin Wright (Hempfield) had three, and Sabol and Evans scored three times apiece.

Evans came on in relief of junior Zach Barberich to earn his sixth save with three scoreless innings.

Against Grove City, Evans again pitched in relief and helped the Bearcats protect a one-run lead as Grove City left the bases loaded.

Evans, who went on to earn his seventh save, later scored on a fielder’s choice to make it 5-3. Sabol went 3 for 4, while freshman Julian Santana had two hits and two runs, and Dailey also had two hits.

Senior Tom Bash earned his seventh win for SVC, allowing three runs on seven hits.

Bash, Dailey and Evans represented the Bearctas on the all-tournament team.

Seton Hill: Grad student Tommy Pellis (Greensburg Central Catholic) is having his best college season, and reaping the awards that can come with it. Pellis was selected as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association National Player of the Week, the first Griffins player to earn the honor. He also was named the NCBWA Division II National Hitter of the Week, and the NCBWA Atlantic Regional Hitter of the Week. During a six-game unbeaten stretch for the Griffins, Pellis went 11 for 24 (.458) with 10 runs, six home runs and 11 RBIs. His slugging percentage for the week: 1.208.

He had two-homer games against Slippery Rock and Pitt-Johnstown.

Pellis, who led Seton Hill (32-4) into Sunday’s best-of-3 PSAC semifinal series against Mercyhurst in Greensburg, was leading the Griffins in nearly every offensive category. He had a .443 average with 51 hits, 49 runs, 14 homers and 39 RBIs.

Washington & Jefferson: Sophomore two-way player Tyler Horvat (Penn-Trafford) was named Most Outstanding Player of the PAC Tournament after leading the Presidents (36-1) to their 13th conference title.

Horvat went 4 for 11, with four runs, a double, home run, three RBIs in three games.

He also was the winning pitcher and moved to 9-0 in a 7-1 win over Saint Vincent. He gave up five hits in seven innings.

He went 2 for 3 with two steals and two runs in a 3-0 win over Saint Vincent in the championship-clinching win.