ALFRED STATE TAKES TOP SEED AS AMCC BASEBALL FIRST ROUND GAMES KICK OFF

The AMCC Baseball Championship Tournament begins this weekend with first round games when No. 5 Hilbert College travels to No. 4 Pitt-Greensburg and No. 3 Mount Aloysius College hosts No. 6 Penn St. Altoona. Top seed Alfred State has earned hosting rights for the Championship Round on May 11-13. Alfred State and No. 2 Penn State Behrend will each receive first round byes.

With a 12-2 record in conference play, the Alfred State Pioneer baseball team has earned their first No. 1 seed in program history. Senior 1B/P Nick Serce leads the Pioneer offense with a .408 batting average, as he also recently broke the AMCC single season home run record when he connected on his 17th homer of the year. Serce has recorded a conference-leading .904 slugging percentage to go with 43 RBI and 45 runs scored, both ranking third in the conference. Senior OF Sam Dickerson carries a .355 average, while his 15 doubles are second-most in the AMCC. Sophomore RHP Ryan Bailey tops the AMCC with eight wins on the season, including five in conference play. He also leads the league with 36 strikeouts, averaging 10.68 strikeouts per game. Senior RHP Jon White ranks second in the AMCC with a 2.50 ERA while Christopher Mattoon ranks second with seven wins and third with a 2.73 ERA.

Penn State Behrend, with a 9-5 conference mark, has earned the No. 2 seed in this year's tournament. Sophomore INF Mac Ciocco leads the Lions, and ranks fourth in the AMCC, with a .443 batting average, while also adding 28 RBI. Freshman infielder Silvio Ionadi is second on the Lions with a .372 batting average and has also driven in 21 runs while scoring 27 of his own. Senior P Derrick Shields is tied for first in the conference with 59 strikeouts on the year, as he is averaging 11.30 strikeouts per game, and has earned three wins for the Lions. Junior Evan Bromley has recorded four wins on the mound for Behrend. 

Coming in at 8-6 is No. 3 Mount Aloysius. The Mounties are the defending AMCC Champions and boast the returning AMCC Newcomer, Player, and Pitcher of the Year in sophomore Tyler Quade. Quade currently tops the AMCC in batting average (.484) and stolen bases (14), while also adding 30 RBI and 33 runs scored. Quade has also picked up four wins on the mound for the Mounties while also recording 53 strikeouts, ranking him third in the league. Junior INF Tyler Suder carries a .406 batting average and ranks fifth in the AMCC with 41 runs scored, while also adding 26 RBI. His 56 hits on the season are the third-most in the conference. 

Pitt-Greensburg enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed with a 7-7 conference record. The Bobcats bring a pair of hot bats to the postseason, as freshmen Colin Solinski and James Domer rank second and third in the AMCC in batting average. Solinski has a .462 average with 38 RBI and 27 runs scored and a conference-leading .562 on-base percentage. Domer carries a .445 batting average and ranks first in the AMCC in hits (65), runs scored (52), doubles (18), and RBI (53), and ranks second with five triples. In addition to the Bobcats' big-time production at the plate, freshman P Nate Mankoski leads the conference with a 1.06 ERA and went 6-1 on the mound, including throwing a no-hitter in his first collegiate start. 

No. 5 seed Hilbert comes into the tournament with a 7-7 record. The Hawks are led offensively by senor 1B Patrick Whelan and junior OF Thomas Evans. Whelan ranks sixth in the AMCC with a .409 batting average and has recorded a conference-leading six triples while his 47 RBI are second-best. Evans is right behind him with a .406 average and ranks second in runs scored (48), doubles (15), triples (5), and home runs (11). Junior RHP Brendan Walsh leads the conference with nine saves, while also picking up four wins and no losses on the season. Walsh's nine saves are tied for second-most in all of NCAA Division III this year. 

Rounding out the field is No. 6 Penn State Altoona (5-9). Freshman Jonathan Rauch leads the Lion offense with a .362 batting average, while recording 36 RBI and scoring 26 runs. On the mound, junior Sam Homan has earned five wins while Mack Meengs has four saves on the season.


AMCC Tournament Schedule

First Round: May 6
Best 2 of 3 game series

Saturday, May 6 - 1pm
Doubleheader:
#5 Hilbert at #4 Pitt-Greensburg 
#6 Penn St. Altoona at #3 Mount Aloysius
(Note: If a third game is required, it shall be played Sunday, May 7 at 11am)

Championship Round: May 11-13 at Alfred State College     

Thursday, May 11
1pm - Game 1: #1 Alfred State vs. Winner 4v5
4pm - Game 2: #2 Penn St. Behrend vs. Winner 3v6

Friday, May 12
10am - Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
1pm - Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
4pm - Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4

Saturday, May 13
11am - Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5

2pm - Game 7 (if needed): Same as Game 6

Sunday, May 14 - inclement weather date