ERIE, Pa. – Last winning a conference title in 2013, the Penn State Behrend baseball team will begin their journey for the 2015 title Friday in the opening round of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) tournament. The Lions secured the number two seed and a first-round bye after achieving a 12-3-1 conference record.
The winner of this weekend's conference tournament will earn the coveted automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Tournament. Behrend has five total championships in program history, including a run of three straight from 2008-2010. La Roche will play host for the tournament for the second straight season and are looking for back-to-back championships. The Lions will take the field against third seeded Mt. Aloysius Friday at 1 p.m.
Behrend's pitching staff has been stellar all season, posting a team ERA of 3.43, tops in the AMCC. Sophomore starters Jack Herzing (St. Marys, PA/Elk County Catholic) and Justin Rohrer (Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin) are among the two best in the conference. Herzing is tied for the lead in the AMCC in wins (7), is third in strikeouts (58) and ranks fifth in ERA (2.82). Rohrer stands third in the conference with a 2.04 ERA and is tied for fourth with five wins.
Freshman Alex Hajduk (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) and senior Tylor Williams (Atlantic, PA/Conneaut Lake) have provided strong depth to the staff. Hajduk is second on the team with a 2.12 ERA and has allowed just 24 hits in 34.0 innings pitched. Williams has thrown the second most innings on the team (41.0), posting four wins and a 2.85 ERA to go along with 8.12 strikeouts per game.
Reliever Connor Semple (Washington, PA/McGuffey) is tops in the conference with five saves. The senior has made 12 appearances out of the bullpen and has recorded a 2.22 ERA. He has 18 strikeouts compared to just six walks.
The Lions offense features a balanced lineup with seven starters slashing over .300. Junior outfielder Alex Margraf (Erie, PA/McDowell) leads the team with a .369 batting average. He has nine doubles, one homerun and 16 RBI's. Sophomore catcher Brian Bohman (Erie, PA/McDowell) leads the squad in homeruns (3), RBI's (29), stolen bases (10) and runs (31). Behind the dish, Bohman holds a .990 fielding percentage and has thrown out eight base runners attempting to steal.
Nathan Junk (Cabot, PA/Knoch) and John Hlavinka (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) have also been key contributors to the offense. Junk, a senior first basemen, is hitting .362 with 10 doubles, three triple and 28 RBI's. Hlavinka holds a .360 batting average in his junior campaign and has scored 30 runs, driven in 23 RBI's and smacked nine doubles.
