No. 2 Mount Aloysius College entered Sunday needing to win two games over top-seed Penn State Behrend on the Lions' home field in order to claim their first AMCC baseball championship title. The Monuties did just that, winning the first game 10-4 to force a game two, and then picking up their second win in as many games with a 10-5 victory in game two to claim the 2022 AMCC Baseball Championship.
Game 1: Mount Aloysius 10, Penn State Behrend 4
The Mounties got on the board first in the top of the second inning when Jackson Kozlovac singled to left field, bringing home Brent Creehan. Tyler Suder then singled up the middle, plating Kozlovac to give the Mounties the 2-0 lead. The Lions tied it up in the bottom of the third when Isaac Stouffer hit a solo home run before a Chase Palmer RBI to make it 2-2. The Mounties took the lead in the top of the fourth on a Jeremy Iellimo single, plating Kozlovac, giving them a 3-2 advantage. Penn State Behrend answered back in the bottom of the fourth when Zac Bogats singled to bring in Jake Deitz, with Bogats also eventually scoring in the inning, putting Behrend up 4-3.
Mount Aloysius was propelled by a six-run fifth inning to take a 9-4 lead. Four Mountie singles (Creehan, Kozlovac, Quade, and J. Brown) and a triple by Suder brought six runners across the plate. Iellimo singled in the top of the ninth to bring in the final run of the game for Mount Aloysius, setting the final score at 10-4, and forcing a second game on the day to determine the AMCC champion.
Game 2: Mount Aloysius 10, Penn State Behrend 5
The Mounties scattered 10 runs over five innings and kept Behrend out of the run column after the fifth frame. The Lions opened the scoring in the first inning with two RBIs going to John Berger on a single through the left side. Mount Aloysius responded with a lone run in the top of the second on a Kozlovac single to left field, bringing home J. Brown, but that run would be matched by Behrend in the bottom half.
A five-run fourth produced the eventual game-winning run for the Mounties. Trap Wentling started the inning off with a single, advancing to third on a Behrend error, which also brought in two Mountie runs. A Suder single scored Wentling and Aiden Bell hit a SAC fly to bring in Suder. Tyler Quade scored the fifth run of the inning on a wild pitch. Mount Aloysius added another run in the fifth when Kozlovac scored on a passed ball.
Souffer struck again for the Lions in the fifth with a two-run homerun the opposite way, scoring Bowen as the last two runs for Behrend.
The Mounties scored three more runs in the final two frames, taking the 10-5 victory with Mount Aloysius earning their first conference title in program history.
Mount Aloysius (27-13) will learn their NCAA tournament fate on Monday when the regional seedings, pairings and schedule are announced.
Baseball All-Tournament Team
Patrick Whelan, Hilbert
Santino Turello, Hilbert
Grayson McClain, Penn State Altoona
Corey Chamberlain, Penn State Altoona
Justin Stancovich, La Roche
Jackson Rogers, La Roche
Brody Burdette Alfred State
Owen Lansing, Alfred State
Jake Deitz, Penn State Behrend
Isaac Stouffer, Penn State Behrend
John Berger, Penn State Behrend
Tyler Suder, Mount Aloysius
Douglas Cannon, Mount Aloysius
Tyler Quade, Mount Aloysius