#5 HILBERT, #6 PENN ST. ALTOONA TO MEET FOR AMCC BASEBALL CROWN

For the first time in AMCC baseball history, the two lowest seeds have advanced to the championship.

#5 Hilbert College and #6 Penn State Altoona will go head to head in Saturday's baseball title round at Alfred State College.

The Lions accomplished this by first dropping #2 Penn State Behrend on Thursday and then #5 seed Hilbert College today, themselves a surprise winner on Thursday defeating #1 seed Alfred State College.

The first game on Saturday featured the two top seeds in a battle to stay alive.  #1 Alfred State prevailed in a 7-4 decision, on a walk off 3 run homer in the bottom of the ninth by 1B Nick Serce.  Serce was also the winning pitcher in a tournament highlight effort.

In game 2, Penn State Altoona C Tim Richard stood out with a 2 for 5 effort in the 12-3 win, driving in four runs and scoring one. SS Corey Chamberlain also contributed with 3 of 6 hitting, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. Sam Holman earned the win and Mack Meengs got the save.  The Hawks' !B Patrick Whelan stepped up with 2 RBI and one run scored. Behrend 2B Zac Bogats was a shining light for the Lions, connecting on 3 of 5 appearances with 3 RBI and a run scored.

The last contest of the day was also an elimination game, a rematch of Friday's pairing between Alfred State and Hilbert.  Different day, same result, as the Hawks again stunned the top seeded Pioneers, this time by a 10-5 margin.  After Alfred State built an early 3-0 lead, Hilbert responded with four in the 4th and another three in the 7th. Three more in the ninth and a lock down effort by ace reliever Brendan Walsh and the Hawks secured their first ever trip to the championship game in their first ever AMCC tournament appearance, winning 10-5.

First pitch for Saturday's championship game will be at 11am.  If Hilbert prevails, a seventh tiebreak game will follow 30 mins after the conclusion of Game 6.  The winner will receive the AMCC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.