The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford softball team enters the AMCC Championship Tournament after clinching a share of the conference's regular-season title. The Panthers head into the tournament on a hot streak, winning their last 8 games. In their opening quarterfinal round matchup, the Panthers will host LaRoche on Sunday, May, 9.
The Panthers finished the regular season with a 14-2 record in conference play. They were tied for first in the conference with Penn State-Behrend. It was the first shared title for the Panthers since they split the 2010 regular-season crown with Mount Aloysius and Frostburg State. While the Panthers were tied with the Lions, they earned the 2 seed in the tournament by virtue of two head-to-head losses to the Lions.
The Panthers won their 14 games this year with an impressive mix of effective pitching and a balanced offensive attack. In the circle, two seniors have logged the majority of the Panthers' innings this year. Jordan Uhing has dominated her opponents this season, topping the conference in wins (8), ERA (1.51), and strikeouts per 7 innings (6.61). She has had a season for the history books, posting two no-hitters this season, the 5th and 6th no-hitters in program history. The Panthers number two, Kerrigan Hoffmann has had her best season as well. She is 7-1 on the season with a 2.69 ERA. She is tied for second in wins, and third in ERA.
Offensively, the Panthers have gotten off to quick starts, scoring in the first inning of 14 of their 16 conference games. A big part of that has been senior shortstop Gabby Carpenter. Carpenter is hitting .412 this season and has scored 26 runs and stolen 16 bases. Playing second base, Daytona Wentzel is also over the .400 mark, hitting .404. She is leading the team with 8 doubles. Hannah Lathrop has provided much of the production for the Panthers, driving in 22 runs. She is also leading the conference in home runs, with 4.
LaRoche enters the conference tournament with a 7-11 overall record and a 7-9 record in AMCC play. The 7-seed in the tournament has lost 3 in a row heading into the postseason.
Freshman Ashtin Hoover is the RedHawks leading hitter, posting a .443 average on the season. She also leads the team in runs (19) and stolen bases (5). Devan Smith has been the primary run producer for LaRoche. She is hitting .412 with 24 RBIs and 18 runs scored.
In the pitching circle, senior Alexa Young has been the Redhawks main arm, logging 75.1 innings in 15 appearances. She is 5-5 on the season with 2 saves. She has a 3.25 ERA and has struck out 51 opponents. Freshman Lyndsi Urani has pitched 34.1 innings this season. She has a 4.08 ERA and a 2-2 record.
The Panthers hosted the LaRoche to end their regular season last Saturday. The Panthers won game one 8-0 in 5 innings behind Uhing's second no-hitter of the season. They fell behind in game 2 after LaRoche scored 3 in the first, but Hoffmann shut down the Redhawks for the remainder of the game as the Panthers won the contest 9-3.
This season the AMCC has changed its postseason format. Instead of a double-elimination tournament, the conference has instituted a best of three series format. It contains 3 rounds and a play-in series to accommodate all 9 teams in the AMCC.
The Panthers' post-season journey will begin at 1:00 on Sunday, May 9th. Game two will begin at approximately 3:00 p.m. Should the teams split the first two games, a third deciding game will begin after the second.
