Juniata | Campus News Article 3352 Juniata College Quad
Juniata College

Campus News

Juniata College

(Posted May 1, 2008)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Juniata College's dominance of the Landmark Conference in baseball were rewarded with Eagle players taking player of the year, pitcher of the year, and eight All-Landmark Conference selections, when Landmark Conference post-season honors were announced on Thursday.

Juniata head coach Tom Gibboney, in his first season at the helm of the Eagle baseball program, headlined the list of Landmark honorees when he and his staff were recognized as the league's Coaching Staff of the Year. Joining Gibboney in earning that distinction were assistant coaches Tye Levy, Craig Shope, Mark Campo, Dr. Craig Eisenhart, and Eric Bridenbaugh.

Senior pitcher Jay Enoch (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) was named the Landmark's Pitcher of the Year, and was a First team All-Landmark selection. Enoch, who earned Commonwealth Conference Rookie of the Year honors in 2005 and was the league's Pitcher of the Year in 2006, heads into the tournament ranked sixth in the nation with a Juniata-record 90 strikeouts. He is averaging 11.6 strikeouts per game, good enough for 11th among Division III leaders. He also holds the Juniata career record for strikeouts with 253. Enoch is fifth in the nation in fewest hits allowed per nine innings with 4.78 allowed. He enters the tournament with an 8-2 record and a 2.07 earned run average, and set a new career pitching victories record last weekend with his 24th career win in a 4-0 shutout over Moravian College.

Senior first baseman Dan Kauffman (Conestoga, Pa./Penn Manor) earned Player of the Year honors and was also named to the league's First team. Kauffman currently leads all of Division III in on base percentage (.647) and walks per game (1.53), and is second in total walks with 49. He is also second in slugging percentage (1.000) and ninth in total home runs with 13. He has already set Juniata career records in home runs (42) and runs batted in (149). Kauffman has earned all-conference honors all four seasons at Juniata, including three first team selections.

Joining Enoch and Kauffman as First team All-Landmark selections were senior third baseman Steve Wilk (Blairsville, Pa./Blairsville) and junior outfielder Adam Spadafora (Lebanon, N.J./Pennington School). Wilk leads the Eagles in RBI with 38 and runs scored with 40, and is third on the team in hitting with a .392 average. His 47 total hits rank second on the team, and eighth in the conference. Spadafora set a new school record for hits in a season with a conference-leading 65, and he is ranked 25th in Division III in the category. He also leads the Eagles in stolen bases with nine, and has been caught stealing just twice. Spadaford is second in the league in batting with a .458 average, and is ranked 31st among Division III leaders.

Four Juniata players received Second team All-Landmark Conference recognition: senior pitcher Andrew Snyder (Punxsutawney, Pa./Punxsutawney), sophomore catcher Greg Hoffman (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney), junior second baseman Kevin Small (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North), and sophomore shortstop Andrew Kriss (Forest Hill, Md./John Carroll).

Snyder enters the Landmark tournament ranked sixth in the conference in earned run average with a 4.91 ERA, fifth in strikeouts with 39, and fourth in opponent batting average a .257. He posted a 6-2 record this season through nine starts, with six complete game efforts.

Hoffman logged a .321 average this season with 44 total hits â?" third-most on the squad â?" and he leads all Landmark Conference catchers with eight base runners thrown out while stealing. His 33 RBI this season is also third-best among Juniata players.

Small has a .299 batting average through 137 at bats this season with 41 hits, and he is tied for second on the team with 20 bases on balls. He also has 29 RBI to his credit this season, with 37 runs scored and a .404 on base percentage. Kriss has a .267 average this season with 32 hits, including six doubles, and 21 RBI.

Kriss and Small, along with first-teamers Wilk and Kauffman, have been part of a Juniata infield that has turned 31 double plays this season, second-most in the Landmark Conference.

Juniata (25-10, 16-2 Landmark) heads into the Landmark Conference Baseball Tournament as the top seed, earning the right to host the four-team, double-elimination event on Langdon-Goodale Field. The Eagles will face fourth-seeded University of Scranton in the tournament's opening game, which takes place on Friday, May 2, at 12:00 p.m. Second-seeded Susquehanna University will face third-seeded Catholic University of America in Friday's other contest. The tournament continues with two elimination games and a winner's bracket game on Saturday, May 3, before concluding with "championship Sunday" on Sunday, May 4.

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