Men’s Golf

The University of Akron men’s golf team used a strong effort on Sunday to gain four places in the overall standings at The Cabarrus County Irish Creek Collegiate. The Zips finished the 54-hole tournament in eighth place with a final team score of 885 (+33).

Wake Forest topped the field with a score of 855 (+3), while Kennesaw State followed in second by carding a 859 (+7).

The Zips were led by George Baylis who shot rounds of 72, 75, and 73 for his individual score of 220 (+7) to finish 29th.

Yann Pfeiffer completed the tournament at the The Club at Irish Creek in 35th place. Pfeiffer had a rough opening round with an 80, but finished with a 71 and 72 to finish with a total of 223 (+10).

Elliot Grayson placed 40th overall and just one stroke behind his teammate after shooting rounds of 77, 75, and 72 for a final tally of 224 (+11).

J.B. Williams recorded the lowest round of the weekend for Akron with a final round 70; however, his first two rounds of 78 and 77 only allowed him to finish in 45th overall.

Men’s and Women’s Track and Field

The University of Akron men’s and women’s track and field teams continue to have great showings and this weekend was no exception at the All-Ohio Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Athens, Ohio.

Alex McCune and Ian Behm started things off well on Friday for the Zips. McCune captured the top spot in the javelin throw and Behm finished second on Friday.

Also on Friday, Dan Zupan took the top honor in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:30.39, and Kamar Majid finished the opening events of the decathlon in second place. On Saturday, Majid struggled a bit and finish the event in fifth place.

On Saturday, the Zips flexed their muscles and showed their flash as the women were able to capture seven first-place awards.

Mackenzie Andrews (1,500 meters), Samia Bell (400 meters), Jackie Siefring (400-meter hurdles), and Daniella Johnson (200 meters) were all victorious for Akron.

On the men’s side, Demetris Hazly-Ward (triple jump), Sean Weems (400-meter hurdles), and Taron Slone (200 meters) took top honors in their events.

Zips that placed second for the weekend were Becky Szabo (pole vault), Abigale Wilson (discus), John Harris (high jump), Sean Poholski (800 meters), and Miles Baldwin (400 meters).

Women’s Golf

The University of Akron women’s golf team competed in the Murray State Jan Weaver Intercollegiate and fired a team score of 964 (+100) to finish in seventh place.

Morehead State took the top spot for teams with a final score of 935 (+71), while host Murray State ended up second after carding a 938 (+74) over the 54 holes.

The Zips’ Frieda Foughberg and Danielle Nicholson tied for eighth overall in the individual competition with scores of 236 (+20). Foughberg had rounds of 81, 74, and 81, while Nicholson carded 87, 78, and 81.

Pader Her and Makayla Dull finished tied for 32nd place overall by each shooting 246 (+30).

Women’s Softball

The weather once again played into The University of Akron women’s softball team’s plans over the weekend in a three-game series against Northern Illinois here in Akron.

In the first game of the weekend, Akron’s Erin Seiler and NIU’s Alex Frenz locked up in a pitchers’ duel. Seiler pitched seven masterful innings and had only given up three hits and no runs, but the Zips went into the bottom of the seventh inning still tied at zero.

Frenz was untouchable in the first six innings as she worked on a perfect game for the Huskies.

Savannah Fruin changed all that on the first pitch of the seventh inning, sending a fly ball to left center that carried over the fence and gave Akron the 1-0 walk-off victory.

The second game was originally scheduled for Saturday and moved to Friday because of a better weather forecast.

Game two was another match-up of Seiler and Frenz each taking the circle for their respective teams.

Fruin started this game the same way she ended game one: sending a Frenz offering over the right field fence for a quick 1-0 Akron lead. It was her eighth round-tripper of the year.

However, the Huskies tied the game in the second inning, taking a four-to-one advantage after scoring a pair of runs in the fourth and another in the sixth.

Caitlin Gambone, continuing to swing a hot bat, trimmed the deficit to 4-2 on an RBI double in the sixth inning.

The Zips were able to get a runner on second base in the last inning, but left her stranded and fell to the Huskies.

Seiler pitched her 21st complete game this year, giving up four runs on seven hits while striking out nine. It was also her 150th career appearance for the Zips.

The third game was set for Saturday or Sunday, depending on the weather, but Mother Nature won that battle as neither day seemed suitable to play.

Women’s Tennis

The University of Akron women’s tennis team played strong, but dropped two tough matches recently in Mid-American Conference play.

On Friday, the Zips took on Ball State, who had lost just two matches on the season. Akron took the first point of the day by winning two of the three doubles matches and a quick 1-0 advantage.

However, the Zips (13-8, 3-2 MAC) were only able to capture two of the six singles matches and fell to the Cardinals (18-2, 5-0) 4-3.

Ariadna Blinova, who stretched her consecutive singles victories to nine, and Martina Zerbola won singles for Akron.

On Sunday, the Zips fell to Miami (Ohio) on the road, 5-2. With the loss Akron fell to 13-9 overall and 3-3 within the MAC. Meanwhile, the RedHawks improved to 8-9 overall and 3-1 in the MAC.

“We came out flat in doubles, and that carried over into some of our singles play as well,” head coach Scott Padgett said.

Blinova continued to play good tennis and she won her 10th consecutive singles match. She now stands at 19-1 in dual matches and 6-0 in MAC play.

Sophia Greer, who was also victorious on Sunday, raised her overall record to 16-5 and 5-1 in the MAC.