AMCC SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT KICKS OFF ON THURSDAY

The AMCC Softball Championship Tournament kicks off this weekend as the top six teams head to No. 1 seed Penn State Behrend to determine the 2024 conference champion. The tournament will begin with No. 3 Mount Aloysius College taking on No. 6 Hilbert College followed by No. 4 Penn State Altoona and No. 5 Pitt-Greensburg. Top seed Penn State Behrend and No. 2 Pitt-Bradford will then take on the winners of Games one and two. 

With a perfect 18-0 record in conference play, Penn State Behrend was named the AMCC Regular-Season Champions and earned hosting rights and the No. 1 seed at the conference championship tournament. The Lion offense is led by sophomore UTIL Meghan Petitte, as her .444 batting average ranks fourth in the AMCC and her 37 RBI is tops in the league. Petitte has also connected on four homeruns, good for third-best in the AMCC. Junior 1B/3B Jocelyn McNany leads the conference with six homeruns, while also carrying a .369 batting average, and ranking second with 36 RBI. Senior INF Maria Jones is hitting at a .374 clip with 31 RBI and a team-leading 11 stolen bases. The Lions have been dominant in the circle this season, as Abby Tingley and Kayla Lindberg lead the conference with 16 and 14 wins, respectively. Lindberg ranks second in the AMCC with 95 strikeouts and Tingley is third with 85. Tingley also leads the league with a 1.13 ERA while Lindberg's 1.99 ERA ranks fourth. 

Pitt-Bradford enters the tournament with a 12-4 record and the No. 2 seed. Freshman UTIL Sara Stroup leads the Panthers, and ranks third in the conference, with a .458 batting average, while adding 25 RBI and 32 runs scored. Senior INF Lexi Peters ranks fourth in the league with 33 RBI while freshman OF Miranda Groll is tied with a conference-leading 18 stolen bases. Sophomore P Krislyn Clement ranks second in the AMCC with a 1.81 ERA and has recorded 10 wins and 74 strikeouts on the season. Freshman Bri Heller carries a 2.81 ERA and tossed the program's fifth no-hitter since joining the NCAA in 1998 in a win over Hilbert on May 2.

With an 11-7 record, Mount Aloysius enters the tournament as the No. 3 seed. Sophomore OF/C Maggie Cypher ranks fifth in the AMCC with a .432 batting average. Freshman INF Annalyn Isaacs is tied for fourth in the conference with three homeruns and a team-leading 20 RBI. Sarah Henninger hit .373 on the year while leading the Mounties with 20 runs scored. Sophomore P Sierra Walters ranks third in the league with a 1.96 ERA including eight wins and 67 strikeouts. 

Defending AMCC champion and No. 4 seed Penn State Altoona comes into the tournament with a 9-7 record in conference play. Senior UTIL Cameryn Feathers leads the AMCC with a .505 batting average and has three home runs, 27 RBI, 32 runs scored, and 14 stolen bases on the season. Juniors Alyssa Fisher and Hanna Lauck rank sixth and seventh in the conference in batting average, with a .430 and .410, respectively. They have each connected on two home runs, with Lauck recording 28 RBI and Fisher scoring 32 runs for the Lions. Sophomore Madalyn Maynard leads the Lion pitching staff with a 2.69 ERA while freshman Jocelyn Nau tops the staff with eight wins and 43 strikeouts.  

Pitt-Greensburg has earned the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament with a 9-9 record. Leading the Bobcat offense is senior C/3B Madison Stonbraker with a .409 batting average and 19 RBI. Freshman OF Jadyn Davis leads the team with 21 runs scored and four stolen bases. Junior Melanie Mienke leads the Bobcat pitching staff with eight wins and ranks fourth in the conference with 83 strikeouts. 

Rounding out the field is No. 6 Hilbert with an 8-10 record. Leading the Hawk offense is junior INF Samantha Heppel with a .368 batting average and 18 runs scored, while Alana Yadov leads the team with 21 RBI. Freshman P Kailey Stolowski leads the conference with 101 strikeouts, while also picking up eight wins in the circle.

Visit the AMCC Spring Championships Page for the full tournament bracket