ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend baseball team is geared up to host the first round of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) playoffs that begin Saturday, May 7.
The No. 3 Lions (25-13, 12-4 AMCC) host No. 6 Pitt-Bradford (12-22, 6-10 AMCC) for a best of three quarterfinal series and a chance to advance to play No. 2 Pitt-Greensburg in the semifinals. The semifinals and finals will be played at La Roche College next week, May 12-14, after they earned the No. 1 seed and AMCC regular-season title with a 15-1 conference record.
David Boehme (Venetia, PA/Seton-Le Salle), Brian Bohman (Erie, PA/McDowell), John Hlavinka (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) and Scott Sada (Saegertown, PA/Saegertown) have been the core of Behrend's batting order all season.
In the top four sports, they have averaged to hit .378 with Sada leading the way at .400. Sada also paces the team in hits (56), doubles (20), slugging (.621) and joins Bohman with 10 stolen bases. Boehme leads the way with 141 at-bats and 41 runs batted in while Hlavinka has the most runs scored at 40.
Sada leads the conference with 20 doubles and is tied for fourth with his .400 batting average. Boehme is third in the AMCC with 41 RBIs while Hlavinka ranks fifth with 40 runs scored and Bohman is third with four triples.
The Lions' pitching staff has been phenomenal in conference play this season. Justin Rohrer (Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin) is second in the AMCC with a .126 conference ERA. Zachary Krivda (McKeesport, PA/McKeesport Area), Sean Rutkosky (Harborcreek, PA/Harbor Creek), Eric Mikulan (Pittsburgh, PA/Hampton) and Sada all have perfect records in conference action.
Mikulan and Rutkosky have perfect records on the season as a whole as well. Mikulan is 5-0 out of the bullpen with one save while Rutkosky is 4-0 as a starter and is second in the AMCC in complete season ERA at 2.21. Sada also leads the team and is second in the AMCC with three saves this season.
