Greetings to all Clark Athletics followers and welcome to this latest edition of the Clark and NEWMAC weekly recap. After taking a week off for spring break, the recap is back and ready to cover a plethora of sporting events from the past two weeks of action. 

This Week’s Competitions

The round-up starts on Wednesday, March 1 after Clark’s baseball game against Fitchburg State was canceled on Tuesday, Feb. 28. Women’s lacrosse faced off against Massachusetts Maritime Academy on the first day of the month, capturing victory at home against the Buccaneers. The Cougars won 9-6, senior Kiley Simmons contributed to six of Clark’s nine goals (scored four and assisted on two). 

The next set of Clark competitions took place on Saturday, March 5 as the baseball team and softball team both competed in Florida. Cougz Baseball felled Waynesburg (PA) University with a strong 10-3 victory. Four Cougars recorded multiple hits in the match.

Moving on to softball, the team lost their first game of the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic 4 to 13. This defeat came at the hands of Pitt-Bradford. As for the Cougz’ second game of the day, they fell to Alverno College 9-10 in a game that went down to the wire. 

Baseball and softball continued their Florida campaigns the next day on Monday, March 6. Clark softball lost to John Caroll in the team’s first game of the day. The Cougars were able to turn it around in their second game however, beating Potsdam 4-1 in a low-scoring affair. 

As for baseball, the Cougz walloped Thomas College (Maine) 8 to 1 in the team’s only game of the day. Outfielder Ryan Caulfield tallied three hits against the Terriers, driving in two runs in the process.

Baseball had the day off on Tuesday, March 7, but softball competed in two games once again. The Cougars faced off against Grove City College, ultimately losing 15 to 7 after six innings. Despite the loss, Samantha Crowley and Magdalena Barthel both collected two runs batted in (RBI) over the course of the matchup.  

The Cougz showed their ability to bounce back in their second game of the day, capturing a robust 6 to 1 victory over Anna Maria. Clark’s win was powered by a dominant five-run fifth inning and a one-run complete game by Brooke Buzzeo on the mound. 

On Wednesday, March 8, the men’s lacrosse squad took on Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Fla., falling to the Moccasins 9-22. Benjamin Hollerbach recorded four total points in the Cougz’ loss, scoring two goals and assisting the team on two more. 

Clark baseball also saw action on March 8, losing to St. Vincent College 2-3 in a low scoring back-and-forth game. 

Moving on to Thursday, March 9, softball was back yet again with two games. Clark fell to Western Connecticut State 1-9 in a five inning match. The Cougz ended up losing their next matchup as well, falling to Drew University 5-6. Clark’s second game of the day came down to the end, requiring extra innings to decide the winner, however, in the eighth inning the Rangers drove in two runs to steal victory from our Cougars. 

Clark’s lone baseball game on March 9 also went into extra innings, with Clark coming away victorious after 10 frames. Cougars baseball outlasted Gwynedd Mercy in a high-scoring 10-9 game. Designated hitter Brayden Hollinrake went 4-4 from the plate, earning three scores for Clark on the day. 

The softball unit played their final two Florida games on Friday, March 10. Both games ended in a loss for the Cougz, falling to John Jay and Haverford 0-6 and 7-8, respectively. Clark’s second game of the day was close, only losing by a single run; first-year Erin Slavin had a strong showing for the Cougz Friday, securing three hits in as many at-bats.

The final two competitions of this recap took place on Saturday, March 11; men’s lax took on Salve Regina in Florida, losing to the Seahawks 6-14. 

Baseball competed in their final match in the Sunshine State against Gordon College. The Cougars won big in their final game over break, crushing the Fighting Scots 10-0. Ethan Belt had a monster game against Gordon, with the second baseman tallying five RBI on four hits. 

That just about does it for Clark’s matchups over the past two weeks, meaning it is now time for some awards. 

Weekly Accolades

First up, co-athletes of the week: Samantha Crowley and Maxwell Gitlin. After some consideration, both of these athletes performed at such high levels that they both deserve athlete of the week honors. Starting off with Samantha Crowley, the shortstop from Middleboro, Mass. was hitting the cover off the ball during the team’s Floridian competitions. Crowley, a junior studying biology, recorded 14 hits in 10 games – over one hit per match. The junior standout also collected five runs batted in, five walks and five stolen bases – doing so while only striking out six times total. As a whole over Clark’s ten games, Crowley slashed a monstrous .438/.514/.531 (batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage). Samantha Crowley’s outstanding play also garnered NEWMAC athlete of the week honors for softball. 

Moving on to Maxwell Gitlin, we now turn to the mound rather than the batter’s box. Gitlin, a southpaw from Los Angeles, Calif., pitched in two of Clark’s spring break baseball competitions. Throwing a total of 13.2 innings, Gitlin gave up only a single run across the two games. The junior political science major struckout 14 total batters, including an outstanding nine punchouts against Gordon College. Gitlin had a strikeouts per nine innings of 9.5 in the two starts, showing that the junior throws gas from the bump. Maxwell Gitlin’s strong pitching performance over the past week also earned the junior NEWMAC honors, being named pitcher of the week. 

As for Clark’s game of the week, the Cougz’ 10-0 thumping of Gordon College earns this edition’s honor. In all senses of the word, the Cougars dismantled the Fighting Scots. Clark baseball recorded 11 hits in the game, including four doubles from Ryan Bonja (2) and Ethan Belt (2) and a homerun smashed out of the park by Andrea Casabianca. Five Cougars had at least one RBI during the match. Maxwell Gitlin also threw a marvelous game, striking out nine and only allowing one hit in 6.2 innings. You could not ask for a better performance from the Cougz, earning this week’s game of the week award. 

Around NEWMAC

Looking around Clark’s conference, two fellow members performed at a high level on a national stage: the women’s basketball teams for Babson University and Smith College. Both qualified for the nation Division III tournament. The Babson Beavers won three tournament games en route to the elite eight. Despite the team’s strong play in the previous three rounds, their run ended with a 60-47 loss to Rhode Island College in the quarter finals. 

Turning to Smith College, the Pioneers are still alive in the bracket. After beating Trinity College (Conn.) 63-46 in the elite eight, Smith secured the program’s first ever final four appearance. Smith marches into the final four with momentum, and a national title is well within reach for the Pioneers. Smith is set to face undefeated Transylvania University after seven days of rest on Saturday, March 18. A victory would propel the Pioneers to the Division III national championship. 

Looking Ahead

Clark’s next set of competitions begin on Wednesday, March 15 with the women’s lax team facing off against the University of Maine at Farmington at home. Baseball is up next, taking on Rhode Island College at home on Thursday, March 16. Clark baseball is set to play the following day as well, visiting Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Friday, March 17.

Saturday, March 18 is jam-packed with Clark competitions: men’s tennis at Gordon College, softball hosting a double header against Rhode Island College, baseball visiting Anna Maria for a double header, women’s lax playing Wheaton College at home and finally men’s lacrosse at home against MIT. 

Baseball has a double header against Saint Joseph’s College of Maine at home on Sunday, March 19 to cap off the next week of athletics at Clark. 

That concludes this edition of the Clark Athletics and NEWMAC Weekly Round-Up. Softball and baseball were very active in Florida over the past two weeks, and all spring sports took part in some competitions. Next week is full of exciting Clark competitions to come, until then however, good luck to all Clark teams, and as always, roll Cougz!