Junior third baseman Jessica Dignon garnered the University of Pittsburgh's first Big East Softball Player of the Week honors, after she led the Panthers to two conference doubleheader sweeps this past weekend.

Dignon, a Baldwin High School graduate, earned Pitt's first Big East Player of the Week honor this season, after she recorded Pitt's most productive batting statistics for the Panthers in four conference games against Villanova and Rutgers.

Dignon drove in seven runs, recorded eight hits, scored six runs and blasted two home runs and two doubles.

"Jess had an outstanding weekend," said Pitt coach Michelle Phalen. "She hit the ball hard and made great defensive plays.

"She is such a competitor. I am proud of the way she battled in her at bats and came through with some clutch hits this weekend. She struggled a bit offensively earlier this season, but she kept working and we all enjoyed the results of that determination this weekend."

Dignon's two home runs were her first of the season. She posted a .667 batting average and a 1.333 slugging percentage in the two doubleheader matchups against Villanova and Rutgers.

She currently leads the squad with 12 doubles, which is one less than the single-season record held by three different Panthers. She also currently ranks fifth on the career list in the same category with 28 doubles.

District grads PAC-ing up on track

Katelyn Kushner was a double winner at the Presidents' Athletic Conference track and field championships, which took place Saturday at Grove City College.

Kushner, a sophomore at Westminster College and a Brentwood High School graduate, won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.55, a PAC record.

She also won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:06.97.

Other athletes to perform well at the PAC meet from the PG South area were Upper St. Clair graduates Will Seymour and Ashley Dodd, who also won individual titles.

Seymour, a freshman at Washington & Jefferson College, won the 800-meter run with a time of 1:59.69. Dodd, a sophomore at Waynesburg College, won the pole vault, 10 feet, 11³/_{4 inches}.

Peters Township graduate Erin Long, a sophomore at Washington & Jefferson, set school and PAC records by winning the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:39.32. Long also placed second in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 19:14.71.

Bethel Park graduate Lauren Spegal, a junior at Bethany College, easily won the shot put at the PAC championships with a throw of 37-7¹/₄. The runner-up finished more than 4 feet behind Spegal.

She also placed fourth in the discus with a throw of 109-11.

Also, Upper St. Clair graduate Liz Mulholland, a junior at W&J, , finished third in the javelin, with a throw of 107-5.

Wooster gets a boost from local twosome

Two graduates of PG South area high schools are making significant contributions to The College of Wooster baseball team, which had an impressive 35-3 record

The Scots are the No. 1 team in NCAA Division III competition.

Bishop Canevin graduate Anthony Trapuzzano, a 6-2, 215-pound sophomore right-hander, has been the workhorse of the pitching staff, leading the squad in innings pitched (59) going into this week with an 8-0 record and a sterling 2.14 ERA.

A Crafton Heights resident, he pitched a complete game Sunday in a 7-3 victory against conference rival Marietta, to complete a doubleheader sweep. It was his third complete game of the season. Two of the runs that scored were earned coming on six hits and a walk, and he struck out three.

Also, teammate Sean Karpen, a Peters Township High School graduate, is tied for second on the team in batting with a healthy .383 average.

Karpen, a 6-1, 170-pound junior outfielder, has 18 RBIs and has scored 25 runs.

The Goff channel

Middle infielder Andy Goff continues to be a middleman in Wake Forest's baseball success. Through Sunday, Goff, a Mt. Lebanon graduate, had started at second base in 36 of the Demon Deacons' 37 games.

A three-year starter, Goff was batting .288 (42 for 146) with 26 runs scored, 11 doubles, one home run and 23 RBIs. He also had a .969 fielding percentage for the Deacons (27-22, 11-13 Atlantic Coast Conference).