The Penn State Behrend baseball team received their 10th overall bid to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) DIII Championships, while Penn State Altoona marks their third-ever berth into an ECAC postseason tournament.
The Behrend Lions are the second seed and will host the semifinals and finals over the weekend. Behrend will battle No. 3 Grove City College in the second semifinal, beginning at 4 p.m. The No. 1 seed Pfeiffer University will face the winner of No. 4 Wilson and No. 5 Penn State Altoona at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
The two winners will battle for the ECAC Title on Sunday at 1 p.m. All games will be single-elimination and nine innings.
The Behrend Lions return to the ECAC Tournament for the first time since the 2015 season in search for their sixth title. Behrend earned the No. 2 seed in the AMCC Tournament, defeating Penn State Altoona in the second round and then fell to No. 1 La Roche and the Altoona Lions to be eliminated on Friday.
Behrend (24-16) and Grove City (27-15) will square off for the 37th time in program history. The teams met in the ECAC Southwest Region Tournament back in 2015 in a best of three series. The Wolverines posted a 2-1 record, defeating the Lions in the championship game, 4-3.
Penn State Altoona baseball holds a 28-16 overall record, including going 12-6 in the AMCC. After a third place finish in the conference's regular season standings, the Lions made a deep run into the AMCC Tournament, placing as the AMCC runners-up after a loss to La Roche University in Saturday's conference title game.
The Lions' quest for another ECAC title (2009) starts with a matchup at Wilson on Wednesday. The Phoenix are 20-12 overall, including a 9-6 record in the Colonial States Athletic Conference. Wilson finished in third place in the CSAC's regular season standings, and it was eliminated from the CSAC playoffs after a 6-4 loss to Cairn University last Wednesday. This Wednesday's game between Penn State Altoona and Wilson will be the teams' second meeting this season. The Lions fell 11-5 at Wilson on April 18, as the Phoenix jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the game's first four innings, then cemented their victory with a six-run eighth inning.
First Round - Wednesday, May 15 at Wilson
*Game 1: No. 5 Penn State Altoona (28-16) at No. 4 Wilson (20-12), TBD
Semifinals - Saturday, May 18 at Penn State Behrend
*Game 2: No. 1 Pfeiffer (28-8) vs. Winner Game 1, 12 p.m.
*Game 3: No. 2 Penn State Behrend (24-16) vs. No. 3 Grove City (27-15), 4 p.m.
Championship - Sunday, May 19 at Penn State Behrend
*Game 4: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 1 p.m.