BEHREND, LA ROCHE EARN WINS ON DAY ONE OF BASEBALL PLAYOFFS

The top two seeds scored solid wins on the first day of the AMCC baseball tournament.

#2 seed Penn St. Behrend took on #6 Mount Aloysius College in game one.  After exchanging runs in the first inning, the Mounties jumped out to a 3-1 lead on solo home runs by TJ Wardwell and Matt McCourt in the third.  The Lions came back to tie and in the eighth as Mason McGuire hit a two-out single to score two and put his team ahead for a 5-3 final score.

The Lions' Justin Rohrer threw a complete game 5-hitter, striking out eight.  Kyle Droz was on the mound for seven innings for the Mounties, allowing 6 hits and 4 runs, with Rodney Patterson getting tagged with the loss in relief.

In game two, the three time defending champions and host La Roche College fell into a 3-0 hole early to #5 Pitt-Bradford.  The Redhawks answered with three of their own to close an energetic first inning. The Panthers then jumped ahead with another run in the second, but that is the last time they would hold the lead.  La Roche added eight unanswered runs and finished with a 15-6 victory.

Johnathan Spina was 5 for 6 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI for La Roche, while teammate David Lemley went 3 for 5 with 3 runs scored and 5 RBI.  Austin Parent was 2 for 2 with 3 RBI for the Panthers.  Tanner Stanz upped his season record to 6-0 on the hill, while Jason Beimel fell to 4-5 for Pitt-Bradford.

Play continues Saturday in the double elimination tournament starting at 9am.  Mount Aloysius and Pitt-Bradford will square off to stay alive, followed by La Roche/Behrend at 12n.  The winner of the 9am game will play the loser of the 12n game at 3pm.  The championship game is scheduled for Sunday at 11am.

The tournament winner will receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.