R-B's Roberts having a blast at High Point

Batting in the No. 3 spot in the lineup is nothing new to Richmond-Burton graduate Nate Roberts.

"All my life, I've been a three-hole hitter," said Roberts, a junior outfielder for NCAA Division I High Point (N.C.) University's baseball team. "I've always felt comfortable there."

Roberts' comfort level reached new heights last week, though, when he became the first High Point player in five years to hit three home runs in a game.

Roberts, who was chosen Monday as the Big South Conference Player of the Week, went 5-for-5 with three homers and six RBIs in a 13-0 win against Towson University.

"It was pretty fun," Roberts said. "I'd never hit three home runs in a game before. I'd never had five hits in a game in college before. It was quite a day."

Roberts impressed High Point coach Craig Cozart by homering to left field, right field and right-center field.

"Three home runs to different parts of the field is really indicative of what he's capable of doing," Cozart said.

Of late, Roberts' capabilites have included helping a solid High Point team (8-3) win seven of its last eight games.

After starting the season 0-for-9, Roberts is batting .414 while leading the team in home runs (three), runs (17), slugging percentage (.774), on-base percentage (.609) and walks (10).

"I'm on a little hot streak right now," Roberts said. "We have a really good lineup. So it's been easy to come through."

Turpel honored: Johnsburg grad Jenny Turpel was named Wednesday to the 2010 Daktronics All-Midwest Region first team in women's basketball.

A junior forward at D-II Lewis University in Romeoville, Turpel finished the season ranking third in the Great Lakes Valley Conference in scoring (17.7 points a game), fourth in rebounds (8.2), fifth in blocked shots (0.97) and 10th in field-goal percentage (51.6).

Turpel also was chosen to the All-GLVC first team and the GLVC's All-Tournament team after helping Lewis (18-12) make the conference semifinals for the second year in a row.

In three seasons at Lewis, Turpel ranks fifth in school history in blocks (94), seventh in scoring (1,359 points) and 12th in rebounds (567).

Igara moving on: Jacobs grad Matt Igara, a sophomore outfielder at Heartland Community College in Normal, Ill., has signed a national letter of intent to continue his baseball career at D-I Western Illinois.

Igara helped Heartland to a 42-9 record last season by hitting .384 with 56 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. 

Heartland was ranked No. 2 nationally in an NJCAA preseason poll this spring.

The team has seven players headed to D-I schools next season, including Cary-Grove grad Eric Aguilera (Illinois State) and Prairie Ridge grad Bobby Martin (Valparaiso).

Loras leader: Cary-Grove grad Mike Gleason, a junior guard at Loras College, was named to the All-Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honorable mention team in men's basketball.

Gleason led the team with 65 three-pointers while starting every game for the Duhawks (15-11). He also ranked second on the team by averaging 11.6 points a game.

Barry Bottino writes a weekly column and a blog about local college athletes for the Northwest Herald. Write to him at BarryOnCampus@hotmail.com and check out his On Campus column every Saturday in the Northwest Herald sports section.