Westmoreland County campus clippings: Hempfield grad honored for work as Pitt's closer
Pitt likes to play “Renegade” by Styx — like the Pittsburgh Pirates do for closer David Bednar — when Phil Fox steps out of the bullpen and trots to the mound to slam the door on teams.
The redshirt sophomore reliever is the Panthers’ closer and one of the most effective save men in the ACC.
For his efforts this season, Fox, a Hempfield alum, was named to the All-ACC Second Team.
Fox is 3-2 with eight saves in 22 games and has a 1.51 ERA in 35⅔ innings. He has surrendered just six runs all year for Pitt (26-27), which is set to open the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday.
Fox, second all time at Pitt in saves in a single season and fourth in career saves, transferred from Gardner-Webb, where he made the All-Big South Freshmen Team.
Baseball
Mount St. Mary’s: Junior Nick Fleming (Norwin) has played in 26 games and sophomore Ty Stecko (Norwin) 41 for the Mountaineers (20-32-1), who will open the Metro Athletic Association Tournament Wednesday. Fleming is batting .270 with eight RBIs, while Stecko, who has 22 starts, has a homer, 22 RBIs and 17 runs.
Seton Hill: It’s back to the NCAA Division II Atlantic Super Regional for the Griffins, who went 4-1 in the Atlantic Regional to improve to 40-15.
Seton Hill posted an 8-3 win over host East Stroudsburg in the regional final as freshman Owen Mandler, senior Eli Snider and grad student Owen Sabol (Norwin) had two hits apiece. Redshirt sophomore Ian Korn pitched 2⅓ scoreless innings to earn the victory. Earlier the same day, they edged East Stroudsburg, 4-3, to stay alive.
The Griffins will play at IUP in a best-of-three series with the winner advancing to the NCAA Championships in Cary, N.C. Game 1 is Friday and Game 2 Saturday. Game 3, if necessary, also will be Saturday.
Women’s track & field
Seton Hill: Senior Isabella Myles (10,000 meters) and grad student Natasha Bernett (100 hurdles, 400 hurdles, heptathlon) received U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Region accolades. The top five individuals in each event from each region receive the nod.
Men’s track & field
Seton Hill: Andrew Campbell (100 meters) was a U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Region selection.
Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.
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