Junior catcher Austin Parent put together not only one of the best seasons in the country but arguably the best in Pitt-Bradford baseball history.
The native of Gilbert, Ariz., earned the status of both D3Baseball and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) First Team All-American -- the first in program history to earn a spot on an All-America team, let alone garner First Team honors.
In addition to his All-America status, the coaches of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference voted him as the conference's Player of the Year, the fourth in program history to do so and the first since Derek Smith (2012) and Michael Pascarella (2011) picked up the award in back-to-back seasons.
His nine home runs are the most in a single season in program history, while his .496 batting average and .616 on-base percentage were also the top marks by a Panther in a single season.
Parent's batting average leads not only NCAA Division III but all three NCAA levels. His on-base percentage is also the top in any NCAA level, as he is the lone collegiate player in the whole country to post an on-base percentage over .600.
Parent started all 33 games and finished second in the AMCC with 48 RBIs and 109 total bases.
The catcher posted a .963 fielding percentage and threw out nine would-be base stealers.
His consistency at the plate showed as he finished out the season riding an 18-game hitting streak.
BASE | Austin Parent completes a historic clean sweep of Division III baseball awards week by earning Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association First Team All-America honors! ��⚾️
— UPB Athletics (@UPB_Panthers) May 25, 2018
��: https://t.co/2ZCUAXAxzd pic.twitter.com/RFiciZy3xY
BASE | What an honor! Congratulations to Austin Parent on being named D3Baseball First Team All-America! ��⚾️
— UPB Athletics (@UPB_Panthers) May 23, 2018
��: https://t.co/YpS4yk2Goy pic.twitter.com/l6Rmh2H8k3
Pitt-Bradford Baseball Hosts 2018 AMCC First Round
The Panthers baseball program put together one of its strongest seasons in recent history. The team went 17-16 overall and 10-8 in AMCC play.
The 10 regular-season conference victories were the program's most since 2010.
As a result, Pitt-Bradford earned the No. 4 seed in the AMCC Championship Tournament and hosted Penn State-Altoona for the First Round.
In addition to Parent's AMCC Player of the Year selection, senior second baseman Jay Clinger and junior pitcher Ryan Boyer earned All-AMCC Second Team honors.
Clinger completed the impressive feat of earning All-AMCC honors following each of his four seasons as Pitt-Bradford student-athlete.
The senior started 27 games for the Panthers and recorded 36 hits in 101 at-bats for a .356 batting average, the second-best on the team. He also knocked the second-most doubles on the team with 12, drove in 26 runs and scored as many while hitting two home runs.
As the ace of the Panthers' pitching staff, Boyer led the team with 58.2 innings pitched and struck out the third-most batters in the AMCC with 66 while posting a 4.45 ERA.
The junior was named the AMCC Pitcher of the Week twice (March 5 & 19) and struck out a career-best 11 batters twice (at Chatham, Feb. 27; vs. Medaille, April 21). He also walked just 26 opposing batters, and never more than four in a single start.
