Two weeks ago, the Shepherd Men’s Basketball team fell short in the playoffs against West Chester University on March 4, the Softball team had a series of wins and losses on Sunday and played again the following day in a two-game sweep against Slippery Rock University. Finally, the Men’s Tennis team took a defeat against Coppin State University and the Women’s Lacrosse team fell short against Frostburg State University. A special announcement was released on March 5 that the Men’s Tennis, Baseball, and Women’s Tennis games were cancelled due to weather. However, the Baseball team resumed on March 8 to face off against Frostburg State University.
Men’s Basketball
On Monday, the Men’s Basketball team’s playoff run got cut short when they lost to West Chester University on Monday. With Shepherd taking a 34-30 lead at the half, it was not enough for them to advance to the next round in the playoffs as the Golden Rams managed to rack up 46 points in the second half with the Shepherd Rams falling 66-76.
Senior Guard Phillip (PJ) Jordan led the Rams with 18 points connecting six of 14 field goals and had a game-high six assists and three rebounds.
Senior Guard Daniel McClain-Corley had 16 points and six rebounds.
Junior Forward Carson Poffenberger managed to clock in 11 points and led the team with eight rebounds.
Season Statistics
While the basketball season is cutting short, many Rams had an terrific season.
- Four out of five starters scored 190+ points this season. Senior Guard Daniel McClain-Corley led the team with an astonishing 401 points. Senior Guard Phillip (PJ) Jordan was second in the team with 351 points.
- All five starters had over 100 rebounds. Junior Guard Jarod Robinson led the team with 158 rebounds.
- Senior Guard Phillip Jordan led the team with 124 assists.
- Senior Guard Phillip Jordan led the team with 45 steals.
- Freshman Guard Michael Cooper led the team with 15 blocks.
- Senior Guard Phillip (PJ) Jordan led the team with an outstanding .744% at the free throw line.
- Junior Forward Carson Poffenberger led the team with an amazing .522% field goal percentage.
Men’s Tennis
The Men’s Tennis team dropped a 0-7 loss to Coppin State University on Sunday here in Shepherdstown. This drops the Men’s Tennis team to a 0-5 record.
While most of the Rams were crushed, there were some spots of light where Jeremy Williams and Khalid Alsadek won the highest number of games in the singles competition to put up points for the Rams.
Singles competition
Vansh Kapoor (CSU) def. Arka Genguly (SHEP) 6-2, 6-0
Harsh Kheterpal (CSU) def. Curry Taylor (SHEP) 6-0, 6-0
Rick Nieke (CSU) def. Jeremy Williams (SHEP) 6-2, 6-1
Liam Murtaugh (CSU) def. Hamilton Hall (SHEP) 6-1, 6-0
Lugbek Abdurakhmonov (CSU) def. Khalid Alsadek (SHEP) 6-2, 6-2
Kwaku Agyeman (CSU) def. Jaden Sheely (SHEP) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition
Murtaugh/Nieke (CSU) def. Genguly/Taylor(SHEP) 6-2
Kheterpal/Kapoor (CSU) def. Hall/Williams(SHEP) 6-2
Abdurakhmonov/T. Whata (CSU) def. Alsadek/Sheely (SHEP) 6-0
This week, the Men’s and Women’s Tennis teams will travel to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina to compete in the PTR Spring Tennis Festival.
Softball
On March 3 and 4, the Softball team hosted Indiana University (Pa) and Slippery Rock University. The Lady Rams had an outstanding performance as they won three out of the four games they played.
March 3 – Game One
The Lady Rams played against Indiana University (Pa) on home soil where they won their first game against the Crimson Hawks 4-1. From every position, it was very noticeable that the ladies were playing well together and was the definition of the “it” team. Many players had outstanding performances that are worth noting.
Freshman Pitcher Madelayne Ruffner owned the mount, striking out 14 IUP players.
Senior Second Baseman Caitlin Donnelly and Freshman Pitcher Madelayne Ruffner both led the Rams with two hits each.
March 3 – Game Two
The same day, the Ladies faced the Hawks once again where they fell short 4-6. Shepherd started off very well and by the third inning they were up 3-2. But IUP quickly regained momentum and scored in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. However, there were some Rams worth noting.
Grad-student Catcher Alex Mantz led the Rams with two hits in which both were runs batted in.
Grad-student Pitcher Katie Laing and Senior pitcher Kourtney McNatt both had a strikeout each.
March 4 – Game One
The next day the Rams stayed in Shepherdstown to face off Slippery Rock University, beating them 4-3 in a close game.
Grad-student Catcher Alex Mantz led the Rams with runs batted in and led the Rams with being at bases.
Senior Pitcher Hannah Ruffner led the team with six strikeouts. Meanwhile, Freshman pitcher Madelayne Ruffner had four strikeouts.
Senior Second Baseman Caitlin Donnelly led the team with six putouts.
March 4 – Game Two
The same day, the Rams beat the Rocks once again in a 6-4 win.
Junior Outfielder Lauren Alt led the Rams with two hits.
Grad-student Catcher Alex Mantz led the Rams with two runs batted in.
Meanwhile Freshman Pitcher Madelayne Ruffner had another outstanding game with 10 strikeouts.
Women’s Lacrosse
On Wednesday, the Shepherd Women’s Lacrosse team traveled to Frostburg State University in Maryland to face off against the Bobcats. It was a tied game throughout the first half, however the Bobcats swept the Rams in the second half, handing the Rams a 9-12 loss.
Junior Attacker Kelsey King led the Rams with four goals.
Senior Midfielder Kaiya Edwards was all over the field causing two turnovers, two goals, four draw controls, and one ground ball.
Junior Attacker Shanna Dextradeur led the team with three assists.
Sophomore Goalkeeper Destiny Rockwell made seven saves for the Rams.
Baseball
With the Shepherd Baseball games canceling due to weather on March 5, the Men returned to action on March 8 losing twice to Frostburg State’s Bobcats on home soil.
Game One
While the Rams lost to the Bobcats 5-10. there were some who showed impressive stats.
Grad-student Third Baseman Connor Dewees led the Rams by being at the base four times and two hits.
Redshirt Junior Pitcher Trevor Sharp led the Rams with four strikeouts.
Junior Infielder Aidan Greaney led the Rams with nine putouts.
Game Two
The Rams faced the Bobcats once again and started off with a 4-0 till the third quarter, where the Bobcats put up five points in the ninth inning beating the Rams 10-7.
Junior Shortstop Greg Borges led the Rams with three hits and batted two runs in.
Redshirt Junior Pitcher Brenden Lewis and Redshirt Junior Pitcher Eli Lam led the Rams with three strikeouts each.
Junior Catcher Brayden Meskill led the Rams with eight putouts.