AMCC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: DAY TWO RECAP

After day two of the AMCC Baseball Championship Tournament, top seed Penn State Behrend is the last remaining undefeated team in the tournament. Mount Aloysius College and  Hilbert College were both eliminated, as each team received their second loss of the tournament this evening. Alfred State, Pitt-Greensburg, Pitt-Bradford all enter day three of the tournament with one loss each.

Pitt-Bradford 6, Alfred State 2
No. 6 seed Pitt-Bradford has made a statement in Johnstown, taking down the No. 5 and No. 2 seeds in their first two games of the tournament. It was Alfred State who started off the scoring, as they put up one run in the bottom of the second inning. Jordan Hughes got things going for the Pioneers, as he singled to first base before Zach Young doubled  left field, advancing Hughes to third. Caleb Walker laid down a sacrifice bunt back to the pitcher, plating Hughes and giving the Pioneers the 1-0 lead after two. Both teams went scoreless over the next two innings before Pitt-Bradford tied the game at one-all in the top of the fifth. Logan McConnell started out the fifth by getting hit by a pitch before advancing to second on a sac bunt. Tim Johnson became the second Panther to get hit by a pitch that inning, putting two Panthers on the base paths. Aiden Zimmerman then flied out to right field before a throwing error and failed pickoff attempt allowed McConnell score, tying the game at 1-1. Pitt-Bradford added another run on in the eighth when Maxwell Rogers doubled down the left field line, followed by back-to-back singles by Trent Bielak and Alex Colwell to bring Rogers home and put the Panthers up 2-1. Alfred State was unable to match the Panthers' run in the bottom of the eighth, while Pitt-Bradford came back in the top of the ninth to put up four more runs, taking a 6-1 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth. Alfred State was able to add one more run in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn't get any closer, setting the final score at Pitt-Bradford 6, Alfred State 2.

Zimmerman, Rogers, Bielak, and Colwell all recorded two hits for the Panthers, with Colwell recording a game-high three RBI.

No. 6 Pitt-Bradford advances in the winners bracket, taking on No. 1 Penn State Behrend Friday at 12:00pm. 

Penn State Behrend 10, Hilbert 5
The No. 1 Penn State Behrend baseball team recorded a seven-run sixth inning to take down No. 4 Hilbert in the Game Four of the AMCC Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Point Stadium. The Lions got on the board first with a two-out ground-rule double from Hank Shaffer in the second inning. Silvio Ionadi then led off the third inning with a home run to dead center, his second long ball of the season. Hilbert knotted the score at two with an RBI triple and homer by Jack Duffek and Patrick Evans. Kyle Borrello gave the Hawks their first lead of the day with a two-out RBI single up the middle in the top of the fifth (3-2). The next Hilbert hitter found the gap, but a good relay from the Behrend defense cut Borrello down at home plate to end the inning. The Hawks tacked on two more runs (5-2) in the top of the sixth with an RBI triple from Nolan Evans and sacrifice fly from P. Evans. In the bottom of the sixth, the Lions stormed back to take the lead (9-5) with seven runs on four hits with the big blow in the inning being a three-run home run off the bat of Dylan Barnes. Freshman Cayden Turner capped the inning off with a two-out RBI single. 12 Lions got to the plate and four batters tallied an RBI in the seventh. Back-to-back two-out knocks in the eighth inning led to another RBI by Shaffer to extend Behrend's lead to five (10-5). 

Jake Manendo earned his second win of the season out of the bullpen, tossing 1.2 innings and only allowing a run on one hit with one strikeout. Junior Jack Baumgartel threw two scoreless/hitless innings to close out the win, striking out the side in the ninth. Six Lions finished with two hits in Thursday's contest, while Barnes and Shaffer each drove in a game-high three runs. For Hilbert, Dustin Hendrix went 2-for-4.

No. 1 Behrend advances to tomorrow to go up against No. 6 Pitt-Bradford. First pitch is scheduled for noon

Alfred State 10, Mount Aloysius 5
Despite dropping their first game of the day, the No. 2 Alfred State baseball team will advance to the next round as the Pioneers bounced back in their second game of the day to defeat No. 5 Mount Aloysius 10-5.

Christpher Mattoon delivered on the mound and got the win while pitching for seven innings. During said time, Mattoon retired three batters and allowed five runs on 11 hits. At bat, Anthony Snyder went 2-3 while tallying two RBIs. Jordan Hughes notched two RBI as well while hitting 2-for-5.

The Pioneers made the initial breakthrough as they scored a run in the bottom of the second inning. With two outs on the board, Caleb Walker hit a homer to start Alfred off strong. The Pioneers followed up with an even stronger third inning. After Snyder and Zach Young were both walked, Tyler Korsky notched an RBI single to center field. Immediately after, Hughes smacked a double for two RBI. Frank Grad batted after where he notched a single to right field for an RBI, 5-1. The Pioneers' run finally ended after Devin Mersman tallied a single towards center field which gave Grad the chance to reach home. Alfred State then tacked on two more in the fifth. Hughes and Mersmann both tallied a single to put runners on base. Snyder followed and notched two RBI when he singled and advanced to second on a throw, and third on an error, 8-0. 

The Mounties finally answered the Pios back in the seventh where they put up five runs.

Alfred State looked to the put the game further out of reach in the eighth. Snyder led off with a single towards left field.  Three batters later, Young hit an RBI single and advanced to third. Young then found home after he advanced on a wild pitch to give the Pioneers a 10-5 lead. The Pioneers were able to hold off the Mounties in the ninth inning, taking the game 10-5.

With their second loss of the tournament, Mount Aloysius has been eliminated from the tournament. Alfred State advances into tomorrow and will take on XXX at 3:00pm in the elimination game. 

Pitt-Greensburg 8, Hilbert 7
Pitt-Greensburg used a late ninth-inning rally and a walk-off single by junior designated hitter Colin Solinski that scored James Domer to keep the Bobcats alive, winning their first elimination game of the AMCC Tournament 8-7.
 
The Hawks jumped out early, scoring four runs in the first inning. However, the Cats had their stopper in junior Tyler Litts. 7.1 innings of relief, giving up three runs, none of which were earned. Litts struck out eight batters in the game, and got out of an eighth inning, bases loaded jam, keeping the Bobcats within striking distance.
 
Junior Neo Miller started the ninth inning with a single. It looked like Miller was thrown out stealing shortly after, but umpires called leadoff hitter Ben Aftanas for batter's interference on the steal, which worked out for the Bobcats as Aftanas was called out and Miller returned to first base. Junior James Domer drove a double to the left-center gap to score Miller to tie the game. The Hawks then chose to walk AMCC RBI leader Thomas Smith and pitch to Colin Solinski. Solinski's second walk-off of the season propelled the Bobcats to another game.
 
Pitt-Greensburg will have a rubber match against the No. 2 seed in Alfred State tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. in Johnstown. The Bobcats split their AMCC regular-season doubleheader with the Pioneers at Bobcat Park.