Bradford, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford baseball team has qualified for the AMCC Championship Tournament for the first time since 2018. They will begin their postseason play on Saturday, May 8th with a trip to Erie to take on Penn State-Behrend.
The Panthers were voted into the 7th seed in the tournament after finishing their regular season with a 3-11 record in conference play.
The Panthers have been led by senior shortstop Sam Dreistadt this season. Dreistadt has done much of the work for the Panther offense, posting a .403 batting average for the year. He has hit two home runs, driven in 15 RBIs, and scored 9 runs. Fellow Senior Matt LaBadie has hit .270 this season with 3 home runs and 12 RBIs. Freshman Nico Hall hit .250 in the campaign, driving in 12 runs.
Alex Miles has been the most effective pitcher for the Panthers this season. He is 1-1 on the year with a 3.60 era. His lone win of the year came against Saturday's opponent, as he shut out the Lions over 7 innings in the Panthers' 13-2 victory. Reid Tarnowski has logged the second-most innings for the Panthers with 29. He leads the team in strikeouts with 25.
The Lions clinched the second seed in the tournament after a 10-4 season in AMCC play. They enter the postseason after splitting a close doubleheader with 3rd seeded Mount Aloysius.
The Lions have seen production from a trio of upperclassmen this season. Sophomore outfielder Colin Harger leads the Lions with a .412 batting average. He has scored 18 runs and driven in 18 more. Senior shortstop Braden Paulinellie is ranked just behind Harger, hitting .410. He leads the team in hits with 41, has driven in 22runs, and scored 20 more. Finally, third baseman Josh Wagner is hitting .398 on the season. He leads the team in home runs with 3 and RBIs with 28.
Derrick Shields and Thomas Zbezinski have led the Lions pitching staff this season. Zbezinski is 4-1 with a .280 ERA and leads the team with 42 strikeouts. Shields is 4-0 this season and has posted a 2.31 ERA. He is just behind Zbezinski with 39 strikeouts.
The Panthers were able to split both doubleheaders they have played with the Lions this year. In the conference matchup, the Panthers lost the first game 7-0 but responded behind Miles's game two performance, hitting 3 home runs in the 13-2 win. Two weeks later, the Panthers traveled to Erie for a non-conference doubleheader. The Lions took game one 6-3, but once again the Panthers battled back for a 9-8 victory in the nightcap. Dreistadt went 4-5 in the win as Kyler Majka picked up the win in relief.
This season, the AMCC has altered its post-season tournament. All 9 teams in the conference qualified for post-season play, which began with a play-in game earlier in the week. Following the 9-inning play-in game, each of the matchups is a best of 3 series. This format will continue through all three formal rounds of the tournament.
The first two games of the Panthers' series with the Lions will take place on Saturday at 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. If a third game is required to decide the series, it will take place on Sunday the 9th.
