Ryan Seyler was of the finest pitchers to grace the
Penn State Behrend baseball program athletically and academically.
The right-hander broke the school record for wins, innings pitched,
strikeouts and complete games. Seyler, the first pitcher to be
named a two-time Academic All-American, earned the prestigious Herb
Lauffer Scholarship/Leadership and the John Zahniser Male Scholar
Athlete of the Year Awards.
Seyler made an immediate impact from the moment he stepped on the
diamond. After being voted Most Valuable Freshman in 2000, Seyler
posted a 3-1 record on the mound in nine games and struck out his
season-best 45 batters the following year to earn him All-AMCC
second-team accolades. He was also named Most Valuable Pitcher,
marking the first of three seasons he would be recognized with this
honor by his teammates.
Not only did Seyler make history in his final two seasons, but so
did the team with back-to-back ECAC Championships, their first-ever
AMCC title and a two-year record of 68-18 overall. As a junior, he
finished ranked eighth in all of Division III statistics with a
1.36 ERA, only allowing 10 earned runs in 11 games. Seyler went the
distance with a six-hitter and one earned run for his school-record
eighth victory of the season, helping Behrend defeat Franklin &
Marshall 3-1 for the ECAC championship. He finished the year
gaining his second straight All-Conference honors on the second
team, while receiving his first of two Academic All-American
nods.
In 2003, Seyler won eight out of the 12 games he started to rank
first for most wins in a season. Those victories led the Lions to
their first-ever AMCC title and second straight ECAC Championship,
including a win in each of those playoff championship games.
He remains in the record books currently tied for third in career
wins (23), third in innings pitched (235.6), fourth in strikeouts
(157) and seventh in ERA (3.09).