Penn State Behrend and Mount Aloysius College each picked up victories to advance to the winner's bracket Saturday morning. After dropping their first game on the day to Mount Aloysius, Alfred State College rebounded by defeating La Roche University in the night cap, 6-5, to stay alive and face the winner of Behrend/ Mount Aloysius tomorrow afternoon.
#1 Penn St. Behrend d. #4 La Roche, 11-6
The Penn State Behrend baseball team advanced to the winner's bracket with a win over La Roche to open the AMCC Championship Round. The Lions rallied around a game-tying homerun from Isaac Stouffer in the fifth inning and didn't look back, scoring nine-unanswered runs to close out an 11-6 victory. With Behrend trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth, Stouffer drilled a three-run homerun to straight-away center, tying it at 5-5. Jake Deitz led off the sixth with a single and would be the start of a two-run inning as the Lions loaded the bases. Zack Bowen hit what would be the game-winning RBI with a sac fly to left, scoring Deitz. Hunter Jamison scored on an RBI-single from Stouffer to jump in front 7-5. John Berger opened the following inning with a base hit and ultimately scored along with Jamison as Bowen logged a pair of RBIs with a single down the left-field line. Juston Jones brought home two more to cap off a four-run seventh inning. Colin Kelly tossed four innings in relief, earning the win by allowing just one run on two hits while striking outa pair. Starter Jacob Lindow went 4.2 innings and struck out seven.
The Lions will take on Mount Aloysius at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning with the winner heading to the AMCC Championship game.
#2 Mount Aloysius d. #3 Alfred State, 9-4
Alfred State jumped on the board first, taking a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Jack Curabba scored on a ground out to second base. The Mounties answered in the bottom of the first, scoring two runs of their own when a Pioneer error allowed Tyler Quade and Tyler Suder to score. Mount Aloysius went up 3-1 in the bottom of the second when Trap Wentling singled and advanced to second on the throw. Brent Creehan advanced to third and scored on another Pioneer error. Alfred State added another run in the third before the Mounties once again answered with two more runs in the bottom of the inning. A Troy Emert single in the bottom of the fifth brought home Jeremy Iellimo to put the Mounties up 6-2. Alfred State started to make headway in the top of the sixth when Matteo Avallone hit a two-run single to cut the Mountie lead to 6-4. However, that was as close as the Pioneers would get as Mount Aloysius added another run in the seventh and two more in the eighth to set the final score at 9-4. Quade went 3-for-5 at the plate and scored two runs while Emert added two RBIs on the day. Douglas Cannon threw all nine innings for the Mounties, picking up his sixth win on the season.
The Mounties will sqaure off with Penn State Behrend at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning with the winnter heading to the AMCC Championship Game.
#3 Alfred State d. #4 La Roche, 6-5
The No. 3 seed Alfred State baseball team lost to the No. 2 seed Mount Aloysius in the first game of the AMCC championship tournament but came back in the second game against the No. 4 seed La Roche to stay alive. La Roche took a 4-0 lead after the top of the first, but the Pioneers answered with four runs in the bottom to tie the game. Brody Burdett doubled down the left field line to plate Curabba, Devin Mersmann singled up the middle to bring in Burdett and Nick Serce scored, and Sam Dickerson singled through the left side to bring home Mersmann. In the bottom of the third Burdett homered to left field to take a 5-4 lead before La Roche tied the game in the top of the sixth. With two outs and one on base, Owen Lansing singled up the middle to plate Burdett for the one-run lead and eventual game-winning run. For the Pioneers, AJ Gartland pitched .1 inning and allowed 3 hits, 4 runs and walked 1, while Christopher Mattoon pitched 5.1 innings and allowed 5 hits, 1 run, walked 2 and struck out 1. Spencer Riehler earned his second win of the season, as he pitched 0.2 innings and Ryan Bailey picked up the save by pitching 3.0 innings and striking out three.
The Pioneers will play the loser of Penn State-Behrend vs. Mount Aloysius on Saturday at 1 p.m.