ERIE, Pa. - Penn State Behrend baseball coach Paul Benim announced today that five players have been selected to serve as team captains during the upcoming 2023 season. The group includes five seniors that have led the blue and white to the 2022 AMCC Regular Season Title and the 2021 AMCC Conference Tournament Championship. The captains will be Zac Bogats, Colin Harger, Derrick Shields, Isaac Stouffer, and Jeffry Zick.

Here is a quick glance at the 2023 Behrend Lions captains.

Zac Bogats (Corapolis, PA/Moon) is an infielder and was named a 2022 First-Team All-AMCC at third base. The senior ranked near the top of the league in batting average all season and finished hitting .388 while scoring 33 runs and knocking 13 doubles. The three-time Academic All-AMCC team member was also selected last season by his teammates as the program's Most Improved Player and earned the Golden Glove.

Colin Harger (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) is an outfielder and was picked as a 2021 First-Team All-AMCC player after leading the league in hitting.  After his breakout sophomore season, he was also named to the ABCA/Rawlings Third Team All-Region and to the D3baseball.com Third Team All-Mideast. Last season, he turned in a .297 batting average and drove in 10 runs.

Derrick Shields (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) will continue to lead the pitching staff. Shields registered a 4-1 record last season, with a team-best 3 complete games, while averaging 9.72 strikeouts per nine innings. The two-time All-AMCC selection brings a 9-2 career record into the season and across 111 innings has collected 119 strikeouts during his career.

Issac Stouffer (Punxsutawney, PA/Punxsutawney) is an infield mainstay for the blue and white. Last season's team MVP finished in the top-5 in multiple statistical categories including doubles, homeruns, RBIs and slugging percentage in the AMCC. He led the team with nine home runs and drove in a team best 41. Stouffer was an all-league selection, earned ABCA All-Region honors and was named to his second all-academic team.

Jeffry Zick (Moon Township, PA/Our Lady of Sacred Heart) will anchor the pitching staff after finishing second in the conference in ERA and ranked near the top of the league in strikeouts per nine innings with a 9.72. Zick limited opponents to a .242 batting average against and was selected as an All-AMCC member. He has struck out 73 hitters over 73 innings of work during his career.

Penn State Behrend is slated to begin the 2023 season at Centre College (KY) on Saturday, February 25.