College notebook: Parshall’s season has been perfection
Bailey Parshall left Belle Vernon as one of the best softball pitchers in WPIAL history.
She’s left a lasting impact during her career at Penn State as well, and added a rare accomplishment to her resume in the Lions’ season opener in Miami.
Parshall fired the Lions’ first perfect game in 17 years, and only their fifth ever, during a 7-0 win over Florida International. The senior left-hander struck out 11 while retiring all 21 batters she faced.
Just as she did when she played for the Lady Leopards, Parshall preferred to deflect most of the credit to her teammates.
“It was a great day for the whole team,” said Parshall. “We’re finally putting all the pieces together. Our hitting and defense have been knocking at the door and we were finally able to bust it open.
“As per the perfect game, I credit that all to my defense and my catcher Cassie Lindmark. I’m excited to see how much more we grow this preseason.”
Parshall has a 10-3 record in 19 games (13 starts) with a 1.44 ERA. She has allowed 59 hits in 97.1 innings with 110 strikeouts and only 13 walks. Opponents are batting only .173 against Parshall.
Parshall entered her senior season sixth on Penn State’s career strikeout list with 396. On Monday, she was named the co-Big Ten Pitcher of the Week. She had a 4-0 record last week with two wins over Rider and one each over Pitt and Cornell. Parshall did not allow a run over 21 innings, gave up just seven hits and struck out 27. She pitched two complete-game shutouts (Pitt and Cornell).
In track & field
West Virginia Wesleyan’s Faith Gandy, a Washington native and Trinity graduate, set two schools records and won an event at the Mountain East Indoor Track & Field Championships held in Huntington, W.Va.
Gandy earned First Team All-MEC honors with her victory in the 60-meter dash, crossing the finish line in 7.61, which broke her own school record.
Gandy concluded her day with a second-place finish in the 200 dash (25.40) and added another all-conference honor.
Gandy broke her school record in the 200 dash preliminaries, running a qualifying time of 25.36.
It was a strong indoor season for Gandy, who was named the MEC Athlete of the Week on Jan. 18 after running 7.16 in the 55-meter dash to set the school record. Gandy also won the 200-meter dash that week at the Marietta Open.
n Waynesburg’s Taylor Shriver helped Akron win the women’s team title at the Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships held at Kent, Ohio.
A freshman, Shriver placed second in the pole vault, clearing 13-4 ¼. Her performance earned Shriver MAC Freshman Field Performer of the Meet honors.
Shriver’s teammate, Grace Henderson, a freshman from Rostraver Township and a Belle Vernon graduate, placed 14th in the pentathlon, scoring 2,984 points. Henderson best finish in one of the pentathlon events was sixth in the 800 meters as she ran a career-best 2:26.33.
n Shippensburg’s Alec Rideout, a senior from Canonsburg, helped the Raiders to the men’s team title at the PSAC Indoor Track & Field Championships held at Edinboro.
Rideout placed fifth in the weight throw with a toss of 53-11 3/4. He also placed 11th in the shot put at 46 feet. Rideout was the PSAC indoor champion in the shot put in 2017.
Rideout was named the PSAC’s Field Athlete of the Week following his lifetime-best throw of 58-9 ½ in the weight during a meet last month at Bucknell.
In softball
Two local players who have made immediate impacts as freshman at the Division I level are St. Francis first baseman Olivia Ulam and Niagara middle infielder Bayleigh McCullough.
Ulam, a Canon-McMillan graduate who helped the Big Macs to the WPIAL Class 6A championship game last spring, is batting .360 for the Red Flash, which ranks third on the team. Ulam has three doubles, one triple and 16 RBI in 25 games.
She went 3-for-5 with four RBI Saturday in a 13-10 win over Long Island, and was 2-for-2 with a double, triple and four RBI in a 6-0 victory over Akron on Feb. 26.
McCullough, a Washington native and Trinity graduate, has started nine games for Niagara and is batting .304, which ranks fourth on the team.
McCullough had multiple-hit games against both Toledo and South Florida. She has drawn six walks and has a team-best on-base percentage of .447.