Walk-Off Homer Helps Alfred State Eliminate Behrend Baseball in AMCC Tournament

ALFRED, NY – The top-seed Alfred State Pioneers eliminated the No. 2 Penn State Behrend Lions by a score of 7-4 in the second round of the 2023 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Tournament on Friday morning.

Final Score: No. 1 Alfred State 7, No. 2 Penn State Behrend 4
Records: Penn State Behrend (20-18), Alfred State (26-15)

Noteworthy:

* Zac Bogats (Corapolis, PA/Moon) and Silvio Ionadi (Pittsburgh, PA/Plum) were named to the AMCC All-Tournament Team

Key Moments:

* Heading into the ninth with the scored tied at 4-all, the Pioneers hit a walk-off three-run homer to stay alive in the tournament
* With one out and two on, relief pitcher Nick Serce homered for a 7-4 final
* Down 2-0 after the second inning, Behrend scored four unanswered runs in two innings for a 4-2 lead in the sixth
* Bogats hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning to get the Lions on the board
* Ionadi doubled down left-field line and then scored on an error to take a 3-2 lead
* Bogats also helped score another run in the sixth, driving in David Boehme (Peters Township, PA/Seton LaSalle) with a single to right field for a two-run advantage
* Each team tallied nine hits
* Both Bogats and Ionadi had three hits apiece for Behrend
* Derrick Shields (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) started the game, before giving way to Joe Lang in the bottom of the sixth for the loss
* Shields fanned seven and Lang added five