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College Insider: Martinez strikes again

St. Joseph's pitcher Jennifer Martinez in an undated, handout photo.

St. Joseph's Jennifer Martinez, a two-time Skyline Conference player of the year, already has a 20-strikeout game and one perfect game this season. (St. Joseph's / April 1, 2008)

BY MARCUS HENRY | marcus.henry@newsday.com

2:48 PM EDT, March 31, 2008

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Jennifer Martinez strikes again! The pitcher who has had a record-breaking run for the St. Joseph's softball team the last two seasons, has been nearly untouchable this go-around.

Behind Martinez, St. Joseph's is hoping to reach new heights this season, which includes a Skyline Conference championship and an NCAA bid. The Golden Eagles last advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2006 after capturing the Skyline Tournament championship.

Martinez, a two-time Skyline Conference player of the year, already has a 20-strikeout game and one perfect game this season. Her prowess notwithstanding, the Golden Eagles are going to need more than Martinez if they are to achieve their goals this season.

So far, St. Joseph's (10-2, 4-0 Skyline) has gotten contributions from several players. "We're a well-rounded team on offense and defense," St. Joseph's coach Al Sciangula said. "We have several talented seniors and seven newcomers.'' Tri-captain Elyse Quirk and freshman Terri Leonard are among the major contributors for the Golden Eagles. Leonard had five RBIs in Sunday's double-header sweep of Old Westbury and Quirk went 4-for-6 with four RBIs in the two games. Martinez, who went 4-for-5 with four runs scored against Old Westbury, is also a force on offense. On the mound, Martinez was her usual dominant self, picking up two wins and striking out 26 in 10 innings.

As dominant as Martinez has been this season, Sciangula said getting production on offense is just as critical as his star pitcher holding down the opposition, especially with a schedule that includes the likes of nationally-ranked powers Rowan and Ramapo.

"It's never good to assume as a coach, but I'm going to assume our pitching will be there," Sciangula said of his team's doubleheader against Rowan on Thursday. Rowan (12-2), ranked 24th in the latest NFCA Poll, will present a big challenge for St. Joseph's according to Sciangula. Ramapo (11-1) is currently ranked eighth.

"We are looking for our offense to really take hold," Sciangula said. "All we have to do is score a few runs, because we know Jennifer will give us a good outing."

Even if the offense becomes as potent as Sciangula believes it can, getting a solid performance on the mound is the key to success.

"Pitching is still the game," Sciangula said.

Smit dominates in swimming

Mount Sinai native Julia Smit won the 400-yard individual medley (IM) at the NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships.

Smit, a sophomore at Stanford who held the third-fastest time in the 400 IM ever with a mark of 4:04.02, nearly broke former Stanford grad and Olympic gold medalist Summer Sanders' NCAA record when she finished the 400 IM in 4:02.41. Smit came within 0.13 seconds of breaking Sanders' 16-year-old NCAA record of 4:02.28. Smit remains the third-fastest women's swimmer in the 400 IM, trailing Katie Hoff's American-record of 4:00.66 and Sanders' NCAA-record.

Smit, who was the lone Stanford swimmer to win an NCAA title, also broke a pair of school records on March 20 during the preliminary. She notched a personal-best 200-yard IM prelim time with a 1:54.97 to break her previous school record of 1:55.38. She then swam the fastest leg (21.78) in a 200-yard freestyle relay to top the previous school mark of 1:29.40 by going 1:28.59.

Smit, who hopes to earn a spot on the Olympic team for 2008 Games in Beijing, is ranked among the top five swimmers in the U.S. in the 200 backstroke, 200 IM and 400 IM.

Hernandez Named Hofstra Volleyball Coach

Hofstra University Director of Athletics Jack Hayes announced the appointment of Kristina Hernandez to the position of head volleyball coach late last week. Hernandez, who spent the last four seasons as the head coach at Loyola (Md.) College, replaces Lauren Netherby-Sewell, who resigned on Feb. 13 to accept the head coaching position at Fresno State.

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