College notebook: Another 3-homer game in Natili’s breakout season
Timing is everything in baseball.
You need good timing when hitting. It helps to have good timing when trying to execute a pickoff play or turn a double play. And if you’re a player who is eligible for the major league draft, then it helps if you have a breakout season. The latter is what’s happening with former Peters Township standout Jack Natili.
A junior catcher at Cincinnati, Natili hit three home runs Sunday to power the Bearcats to an 11-9 come-from-behind win over Central Florida in a Big 12 game.
With Cincinnati trailing 9-5 in the sixth inning, Natili hit a 2-0 pitch for a solo home run. An inning later, Natili hit his second home run of the game, a two-run 418-foot blast to left field that tied the score at 9-9.
In the top of the ninth, Natili drove a 3-1 pitch for another home run to left, this one a solo shot that gave Cincinnati an 11-9 lead. It was Cincinnati’s second home run of the inning.
It was the second time this season that Natili has hit three home runs in a game. He did it March 21 against Utah. He is one of three players nationally to hit three home runs in a game multiple times this season.
Natili capped the week by being named the Big 12’s Player of the Week on Monday. He hit his first homer of the week in the Bearcats’ 15-5 win over Xavier. He finished the week batting .357 (5-for-14) with four home runs, eight RBI, six runs and a 1.214 slugging percentage
Natili is batting .331 with 11 doubles, three triples and 13 home runs on the season. He hit nine home runs last year and five in his freshman year while playing for Rutgers.
He has played in all 42 games for Cincinnati, which is 8-10 in the Big 12 and 27-15 overall. The Bearcats play a weekend series starting Friday at West Virginia.
Softball
Meadow Ferri was one of the best pitchers in the WPIAL during her four seasons at Chartiers-Houston. She pitched the Bucs to section titles, a WPIAL championship and deep into the PIAA playoffs.
This year, as a freshman at Kent State, Ferri is quickly becoming one of the top pitchers in the Mid-American Conference. She was named the MAC’s Pitcher of the Week for March 30-April 5.
The Houston native was a workhorse for the Golden Flashes that week as she played a huge role in three wins. Ferri earned her first career save by stopping a Bowling Green comeback on April 3, getting the game’s final two outs in a 7-6 Kent State victory.
Ferri then tossed her first complete-game shutout that same day as Kent State won a quick 1-0 contest. She then started the third game of the series, allowing only four hits, before exiting after four innings. She returned to the circle to close the game in the top of the seventh. Ferri threw five shutout innings in the game and did not allow a run the entire weekend.
– Slippery Rock freshman Maddie Cavenaugh continues to be among the best players in the PSAC. She was named the PSAC West’s Co-Athlete of the Week on April 13.
Cavenaugh has received five PSAC West Athlete of the Week awards, the most in a single season by a Rock athlete, as well as being tied for the second most in program history all-time.
With Cavenaugh leading the way, Slippery Rock posted a 4-0 week with sweeps of Gannon and Edinboro. She batted .750 (9-for-12) with seven runs, four home runs, eight RBI, four stolen bases and three walks.
The freshman hit home runs in three of her four games, including a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning against Edinboro and two leadoff home runs, one against each opponent.
The South Fayette graduate is hitting .490 (51-for-104) with 37 runs, 40 RBIs, 11 home runs, eight doubles, three triples, 13 walks and 14 stolen bases. Cavenaugh has a .538 on-base percentage and a .942 slugging percentage, good for a 1.480 OPS.
In the midst of an exceptional freshman season, Cavenaugh currently leads the PSAC in batting average, slugging percentage, runs and RBI, while ranking second in on-base percentage, OPS and home runs.
In track and field
Duquesne sophomore Rose Kuchera, a Canon-McMillan graduate, won the triple jump for the second consecutive year at the ECAC/IC4A Outdoor Championships in Piscataway, N.J., last weekend, recording a mark of 12.35 meters (40-6.25).
The previous weekend, Kuchera was part of the Dukes’ 400-meter relay team that recorded the second-fastest time (46.78) in school history at the Dalton Ebanks Invitational in Fairfax, Va. Kuchera also ran 14.19 in the 100-meter hurdles, which ranks fourth on Duquesne’s all-time list.
Baseball
Second baseman Jack Kail is the leading hitter for Columbia.
A senior from McMurray and a Peters Township graduate, Kail is batting .355 for the Lions and also leads the team with 11 doubles and 31 RBI. He has shown amazing bat-to-ball skills, striking out only six times in 134 plate appearances.
A sure-handed infielder, Kail has made 133 starts in his career.
This season, Kail had a five-RBI game against Penn and a four-hit game against Fordham. He also drove in two runs in the Lions’ win at West Virginia last month.
– Former Trinity standout Matthew Robaugh has seen playing time as a true freshman for 12th-ranked West Virginia.
Robaugh has played in 16 games, starting seven, and is batting .226 with one double. Robaugh had a two-hit game against Central Florida.
– Junior left-handed pitcher Andrew Bredel has been a reliable starter at Penn State Behrend.
Bredel, from Burgettstown, has a 4-1 record and 4.09 ERA in eight starts. He has 42 strikeouts in 44 innings.
In his last two outings, which were wins over Pitt-Bradford and Hilbert, Bredel has logged 13 innings, allowing only six hits and three runs. He had 11-strikeout game against Albion to start the season
– Chad Krewson, a former standout outfielder at South Fayette, is in his junior season at Rutgers.
Krewson began his career at Duke, transferred to Central Florida and is in his first season with the Scarlet Knights.
In 39 games with Rutgers, Krewson is batting .255 with three doubles and four home runs. His 25 runs rank third on the team.
Krewson had a five-hit game on April 11 at Kansas State and drove in four runs against Charleston.
– Zach Miner, a freshman pitcher at Allegheny, was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Week on Monday.
A Venetia native and Peters Township graduate, Miner earned his first collegiate win in a 23-3 rout of Bethany. Miner scattered seven hits over seven innings, allowing two earned runs and struck out five.
He also batted .636 for the week with seven hits, six runs and three RBI.