Rain kept the SIUE softball team from its effort to defend its 2007 NCAA Division II national title Wednesday, but it will try again at 4:30 p.m. Thursday against West Virginia State University in the opening round of the Great Lakes Valley Regional championship.  

Fans could see junior lefty Kaitlin Colosimo take the mound Thursday either as a starter or reliever. Colosimo recently added more hardware to her collection as she earned first team All-Region honors and Pitcher of the Year. Senior shortstop Kaeleigh Rousey, meanwhile, made the second team All-Region with her eight home runs, second on the team, and 55 RBIs. 

SIUE Baseball may see successful split with Saint Joseph’s College as help in Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament opener at 8 p.m. Thursday in Sauget’s GCS Ballpark.

The Cougars could have taken three out of four a few weeks ago against Saint Joe’s, especially after averaging nearly 10 runs each time they played. Let’s not forget the 20-7 rout of the Pumas in game one of the Saturday doubleheader when they tore apart the highly-touted Saint Joe’s pitching staff with 28 hits. 

If they can generate at least half those runs and pick up solid pitching performances from the likes of senior lefty Cody Litteken and sophomore strikeout machine Nick Wooley, they should get the job done against the Pumas. On the same token, the Pumas’ strong pitching staff with Chase Sonen and Blaine Cravens could improve from their disastrous performances and make the lineup look silly. We’ll see which teams show up Thursday.

Newly hired SIUE women’s basketball Head Coach Amanda Levens said she has wanted to be a coach for quite some time, dating back to her college years.

“I worked at a summer camp in Chicago and I was like, this what I need to do,” Levens said. “I didn’t want to do anything else.”

Levens, a former All-American at Arizona State University and WNBA member, tried to translate her work ethic as a player to the coaching level and hopes to do the same as a Cougar. Levens will guide the women’s hoopsters in the first year of the Division I reclassification process, something she said will be a challenge but is excited nonetheless.

“(The players) have the opportunity to come and be a part of the foundation of something special,” Levens said. “I’ve told the girls … this core group right here … you are the foundation of a Division I program.”

That is also the pitch she looks to use when she recruits future players, one of her first tasks as the new coach. Levens, previously an assistant at the University of Nevada, said five players from last season will return and will also see a recruit from the former coaching staff of Wendy Hedberg, Lee Green and LeAnn Harris.

However, she said she will use her track record of top-notch recruits, which a few made the All-Freshman team at Nevada, with a competitive edge and good academics to get the program going, in addition to her West Coast contacts and Illinois ties for talent. Levens hails from Belvidere, where she was a three-time All-State honoree. 

“A lot of the people that coached me … are still coaching,” Levens said. “So that’s a good connection to have. I’d say I’m more familiar with northern Illinois than I am with Southern Illinois, but that’s just something I will work on and work to build relationships on.”

So far, according to Levens, the players have responded well to her in workouts. 

“They pick up things quickly, which as a coach you love,” Levens said. “They know what I’m looking for when they come back in the fall.”

Levens was one of three final candidates for her current position, the other two being former University of Wisconsin assistant Tasha McDowell and Bowling Green State University assistant Brandi Poole. SIUE Athletics Director Brad Hewitt said the most significant thing that stood out from Levens was her passion to not only be a head coach, but the Cougars’ coach.

“The others were interested, they wanted to be a head coach and they were very impressed with our school, but everything she articulated was, ‘I want to be SIUE’s coach,’” Hewitt said. Hewitt also said Levens had two other schools interested in her, which spoke volumes about her dedication to coach in Edwardsville.

Hewitt said the search unofficially began after Hedberg announced her retirement in Fall 2007 after 29 years at the helm and went into full force during the winter months. The search featured a “screening committee” of assistant athletic director Sandy Montgomery, kinesiology and health education professor Kay Covington and School of Education associate dean Curt Lox. They received resumes and created an interest pile, which included 22 prospective candidates.

Hewitt said they then reviewed the resumes, cut the list to the top 10 separately, compared the lists and made several phone calls. 

“We narrowed that group to seven fairly quickly after about a week of calls,” Hewitt said. “I saw six of the seven in person. I saw four of them coach.”

Hewitt said at least five of them were in the National Invitational Tournament or the NCAA tournament in March, so he had to wait until their seasons ended to talk to them. Eventually, he interviewed the three candidates off-campus and six groups, including student-athletes and team supporters, filled out evaluation forms when they met the candidates. In the end, Hewitt said all but one picked Levens as their first choice.

Levens, who owns a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s in higher education administration, said she does not have a preference in an offense or defense-based system. Rather, it will be the right mix of personnel and players who make things work on the court.

“I’m not stubborn enough to say this is our offense and we’re going to stick with it,” Levens said. “If we don’t have the personnel, we’re not going to do it.”

Another aspect Levens looks to focus on is to unite the students. Levens said in previous reports that when she coached the Wolfpack the athletics department would give away money to student organizations with the highest attendance at the games. She said she wants to get the players more involved in the SIUE community.

Levens, according to Hewitt, is on board for at least five years and looks forward to seeing what she can do in her first go-round as the women’s coach.

“Our focus and priority (are) building the program the right away,” Hewitt said. “It’s not about winning and losing, but doing things the right way.”

MCT Planning and Marketing Director S.J. Morrison is also a top supporter for both the men’s and women’s basketball squads. Morrison chatted with Levens for a few minutes during her informal introduction at Bella Milano Wednesday and said he liked what he heard from her.

“She’s got big shoes to fill,” Morrison said. “Wendy Hedberg was an outstanding coach and built quite a tradition at SIUE. (But) I think with her experience, her energy, I think she can make it happen and I’m really excited about it.”

Levens overall said she wants to help the players grow from the game of basketball into complete women with an education and an unforgettable university experience. Additionally, she wants a long-lasting rapport with them.

“At Arizona State, I played for an awesome, awesome coach and an even better person,” Levens said of ASU Head Coach Charli Turner Thorne. “She just really treated our team great. Everybody loved her and respected her.

“I guess from that, I hope I can get my teams to play as hard for me,” Levens said.

While SIUE baseball looks to claim the Great Lakes Valley Conference title and get into the NCAA tournament for a third straight year, the softball and men’s and women’s track teams took home their conference championships. For all three, this was anything but the first time.

Softball pounded University of Wisconsin-Parkside 12-0 behind shutout pitching from freshman Erika Taylor scattered six hits in seven innings (standard maximum of innings in softball) for its third straight GLVC title. Sophomore Chaleen Rumpf smacked a grand slam and junior Courtney Mall and senior Mallory Ruggles also homered to give Taylor the offensive boost.

According to an athletics official, the team had a conference call Sunday night and it is yet to be determined who SIUE will play Wednesday when it hosts the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional tournament. The Cougars are No. 1 in the region.

Meanwhile, the men’s track team, backed once again by senior Scott Block, won its fifth straight GLVC outdoor track title with 239 points at home. He won Athlete of the year after another first-place finish in the discus throw and the shot put. The Cougars took first place in multiple events, including the 400-meter dash when they took the top five times.

SIUE Head Coach David Astrauskas won coach of the year.

On the women’s side, the Cougars claimed its fourth straight outdoor conference title at home with 323 points. The closest team was Lewis University with 96 points.

Like the men, the women took up the top five spots in a single event during the 200 and 400. The Cougars took first in 19 of the 22 events scored.

Junior Deserea Brown picked up Athlete of the Year honors.

Both teams compete in one more event before the NCAA Division II National Championships in Walnut, Ca. as they travel to Bloomington, Ind. for the Billy Hayes Classic Friday and Saturday.

SIUE baseball never appeared to have a problem with scoring runs this weekend and Sunday was no different as the Cougars rocked the Missouri University of Science and Technology 20-8 in the regular season finale at home.

The Cougars needed Great Lakes Valley Conference foe Drury University to lose to the University of Southern Indiana at least once to get into the tournament. The Panthers lost 6-4 to USI and the Cougars grabbed the No. 2 seed in the tournament.

Like the previous three games, the Cougars and the Miners were scoring runs back and forth until the sixth inning, when SIUE piled on nine runs through the rest of the game. SIUE’s 23 hits nearly replicated their 28-hit performance against Saint Joseph’s College the previous weekend. Senior first baseman Steve Doll drove in five runs on four hits as he was one of six Cougars to collect two hits or more in the game.

The Miners’ Brandon Cogan drove in two runs for his teammates. S & T inched closer to the team for what could have been another winning rally, but after David Scott settled down in his relief pitching, which consisted of two earned runs, he kept them in check until the ninth inning. Junior Nick Gruver tossed a scoreless ninth to seal the win.

The GLVC tournament begins Thursday at GCS Park in Sauget and the Cougars will need those bats to continue producing if they want to advance. Pitching will need to step up, too, as the starters are averaging a five ERA or higher. SIUE created a makeshift rotation of relievers Nick Wooley, Andrew Beatty, David Scott and Aren Cummings to back up senior lefty Cody Litteken, the only rotation mainstay this year.

Senior lefty Zach Everist and junior hurler Luke Vine both went down with injuries this season.

Litteken is a veteran with at least two years of NCAA tournament experience. He pitched three scoreless innings in relief of James Hertel in the Cougars’ 7-3 loss to Saginaw Valley State last season as his teammates went on to lose their next game (it was double elimination) to Grand Valley State University.

Wooley is a strikeout machine and can go more than six innings, but tournament experience is an issue. If he’s on, he’ll strike out between seven and nine hitters and give the Cougars a chance to win.

Meanwhile, Cummings had a rough start with six runs allowed Sunday. However, if he can find his earlier self with fewer runs allowed and keep being the lucky charm the Cougars need to generate 10 or more runs, he should be fine as well.

Beatty and Scott can get the job done on the mound, but they need help from the lineup. Beatty pitched perhaps his best game of the season in the Cougars’ 12-1 win over S & T as he allowed just one run in six innings pitched. We’ll see how SIUE Head Coach Gary Collins plans out his rotation. I expect to see Litteken out there Thursday.

For the first time this season, the SIUE baseball team went deep in its own park during a weekend series.

The Cougars pounded two home runs in their 10-6 Friday win over Missouri University of Science and Technology and added another one during game two of their Satuday doubleheader against the Miners. SIUE took the first game, 12-1, and blew the lead twice in its 11-10 loss in game two on Roy E. Lee Field.

S & T carried a 4-0 lead into the fifth inning Friday night when the Cougars plated two runs to cut the lead in half. An inning later senior first baseman Steve Doll launched the team’s first home run at home this year with a three-run round tripper to take the lead. Junior outfielder Adam Eggemeyer homered in the bottom of the seventh as part of a five-run Cougar rally.

The Miners once again tried to gain a lead and keep it during game one Saturday but their 1-0 lead disappeared with three  Cougar runs scored in the third inning, seven in the fourth and two more in the fifth to lose their second game of the series. Senior third baseman Ben Bartley capped the day with a perfect 4-4 at the plate and five RBIs.

In game two the Cougars looked to be in control again with a 7-1 lead in the sixth inning. Sophomore starter Nick Wooley looked strong with eight strikeouts and just one earned run but the Miners rallied for six runs against him and junior lefty Patrick Keller to tie the game. The Cougars answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame with an Eggemeyer solo homer and a junior first baseman Michael Hopkins RBI single.

The Cougars added on one more run for a 10-9 lead going into the ninth inning, but their bullpen could not shut the door. Junior Daniel Bennett surrendered two runs after he nearly snuffed a rally with a double-play ball that ended up out of the infield. SIUE could not rally again in the bottom of the ninth for the loss.

Saturday was also Senior Day as posters, collages and dedications swarmed Roy E. Field. Seniors Bartley, Doll, lefty Cody Litteken, outfielder Daniel Thomson, catcher Zach Stead and shortstop Cory Bunner were all honored before game two for their dedication to Cougar baseball.

SIUE is 23-24 with a 17-14 Great Lakes Valley Conference record and will play its final game of the season and in Division II at noon Sunday at Roy E. Lee Field. The Cougars need to beat the Miners and will need help from other GLVC teams to get into the conference tournament the following week.

I’ve covered many things since taking over the head of the sports section here at the Alestle.  I’ve covered head coaching changes, head coaches stepping down, and even go to cover the last Division II National Championship before the school heads to D-I competition.

 Through the past year and a half, I have found many things that I have enjoyed covering, many slow news days where the news seems to be hiding in the hole of the ninth green, and many days where I thought my story was never going to happen. However, with all things, especially with sports, you can only get better with time, practice, and patients.

 When reading my columns, you can find that my easiest sports to write about were soccer and softball. Two things I know the most about. Of course, while writing about Cougar softball I can’t use my past experiences of beer drinking, nacho eating, Wednesday night softball, but I can relate to the game that I love.  I’ve haven’t played soccer since the fall of 1998, but I still can remember thinking I had to have asthma as I attempted to spring back to the ball as it rolled into our penalty area.

 I’m passionate about everything I do.  I’ll be honest whether I was writing about sports, grocery shopping, graduation, or politics; I’d put the same amount of passion into my work.  Trust me, when I write down milk, eggs, and paper towels, I put everything I have into it. Joke.

 I encourage anyone who is an avid fan of athletics, and you are passionate about what you do, and you have the drive to be successful, then this is something you need to try.  Not everyone is cut out to do it, but it is something that I couldn’t find one regret about. It’s not only something that I can see myself doing for a career, it’s something I can see myself enjoying while I do it for a career.

 While I leave the University, and will not be covering Cougar athletics any more, I have found that there are tricks to the trade and would like to pass these to you.  Of course, you can pretty much guess that they won’t be just for journalism, but just lessons in life as well.

 Make sure you know your audience.  Don’t write for someone who is 90-years old, you just eliminated pretty much everyone who steps foot on this campus.  You need to write to the audience that is going to pick up your paper and enjoy reading your work, not be confused.

 Make sure you know your subject.  One thing I can’t stress enough.  Make sure you know what you are writing ABOUT as well as writing to.  Who knows, you may find a friends, a classmate, or perhaps even a romance interest. 

 But most of all, you must make sure that the second this job does not get fun for you, to leave.  Make sure that no matter what you do, you have fun, and enjoy what you do.  This is the first step to the next step of the rest of your life.  Choose your path wisely and make sure that everything you do is done for a reason.

 So, after covering National Champs, getting into fueds with currently unemployed radio personalities, watching coaches say goodbye for the last time, and gaining countless numbers of friends… for the last time, I say goodbye.  Tony’s Time Out forever hangs in the rafters. Much Love!

The SIUE baseball team unloaded with its bats on Saint Joseph’s College for a 20-7 game one victory, but let the Pumas do the same in game two with a game-winning grand slam to lose its second game, 9-8, for a Saturday split.

The Cougars opened up a 10-4 lead in the seventh inning, but the Pumas rallied back with three in the top of the eighth. Then the floodgates opened in the bottom half of the frame when the Cougars drove in 10 runs on 11 hits to put the Pumas away in game one.

Both teams kept the game close in the second contest, but the Cougars came within an inning of a sweep with an 8-4 lead after they added two runs in two consecutive innings. Senior lefty Cody Litteken, who started the game, left with nobody out and two runners on in the top of the sixth with already one run home to cut the lead to 8-5. In other words, a grand slam would give the Pumas the lead.

That’s exactly what happened. Freshman lefty Mitchell Fairley relieved Litteken and after a fly out he walked the bases loaded. First baseman Ryan Murray, who was already one of the RBI leaders on the team, homered to eventually win the game.

The Cougars could not continue to swing the hots they had all afternoon in their final two opportunities to bat and dropped the second game. Overall, they had 40 hits between the games.

SIUE will try to take both games in a Sunday doubleheader, one of which is Friday’s makeup game. The teams are scheuled to square off at noon tomorrow at Roy E. Lee Field.

The SIUE baseball team’s scheduled Friday night game against Saint Joseph’s College has been called due to rain, according to an athletics department official.

The Cougars and the Pumas were set to square off at 7 p.m. Friday for the first of four games this weekend, but heavy rain and winds led to the cancellation. Weather.com as of 7:42 p.m. said Edwardsville was under a severe thunderstorm warning with the possibility of 60 mph winds and hail.

It is immediately unknown if or when the game will be made up. SIUE, however, is scheduled to host SJC for a doubleheader at 1 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday).

SIUE baseball looked to beat nonconference opponent McKendree College at home Wednesday night with most of its reserves, but the Bearcats’ two key hits and unearned runs led to the Cougars’ 4-1 loss.

Bearcats third baseman Todd Harpstrite homered in the first inning to get his team on the board and an error and passed ball in the fifth inning added to their lead. SIUE junior righthander Tim Stunkel allowed just one run on two hits in three innings before he left the game with what appeared to be an arm-related injury.

Junior David Scott pitched four innings of relief, but the three runs he surrendered, only one of which was earned, help do the Cougars in. Junior outfielder Adam Eggemeyer brought in SIUE’s lone run in the bottom of the sixth inning.

McKendree’s Adam Buehne tossed eight strong innings and allowed just one run, which was unearned. Buehne earned his fourth win of the season and closer Tyler Mattmiller closed the game with two runners in scoring position for his third save.

SIUE subbed seniors Cory Bunner and Ben Bartley with juniors Chilos Norris III and Josh Street on the left side of the infield and sophomore Ryan Wiggs played second base for Street. Sophomore Dustin Brooks started in left field and sophomore Christian Rohlfing played as designated hitter for regulars such as senior Daniel Thomson and junior Michael Hopkins.

The Cougars will continue their homestand with Great Lakes Valley Conference opponent Saint Joseph’s College for a four-game set starting at 7 p.m. Friday on Roy E. Lee Field.

The SIUE baseball team could not contain the University of Indianapolis last Wednesday at home, nor were they any more successful after the Greyhounds routed the Cougars 21-7.

Both teams basically duked it out in the first four and a half innings. Despite a six-run UI rally in the fourth, the Cougars tacked on three more runs in the top of the fifth to keep the game close. However, the Greyhounds cranked out nine runs in the next three innings to all but bury the Cougars.

Junior David Scott and freshman Thad Hawkins took the hardest hits of the five SIUE pitchers who surrendered the 21 runs. Scott gave up seven runs in four innings of work and Hawkins allowed nine runs, eight earned, in less than two innings of relief.

Greyhounds Seth Paul and Ben Sondgeroth each paced the Greyhounds with four RBIs. Sondgeroth also homered for UI.

Meanwhile, senior shortstop Cory Bunner homered for the Cougars and senior outfielder Daniel Thomson cracked a pinch-hit homer. Junior outfielder Adam Eggemeyer led the team with two RBIs.

SIUE travels to Quincy for two doubleheaders this weekend with the first one starting at 2 p.m. Saturday.