Behrend Baseball Falls To Pitt-Bradford in AMCC Tournament
Fourth-seeded
Behrend baseball hosted the first round of the AMCC tournament on
Saturday, May 5 against fifth-seeded Pitt-Bradford. Bradford took
the series in two games, denying the blue and white the chance to
battle for the AMCC crown next weekend.
Game one saw Bradford get on the scoreboard first as the Panthers
were able to string together three hits in the top of the second to
go up 1-0. Bradford would get to Behrend pitcher Andrew Chrobak
(New Castle/Laurel) again in the third and fourth, putting the
Panthers up 7-0 after four innings. Gabe Stephenson (State
College/State College) was a bright spot for Behrend at the plate,
going 2-for-2, but it was the Panthers getting the win in game one,
by a final score of 9-0.
In game two Behrend would battle into extra innings before falling
4-2 to the Panthers in ten innings. The blue and white stranded 15
runners and committed four errors, in a wild game that lasted over
three hours. Starting pitcher David Koerbel (Pittsburgh/Central
Catholic) came out with overpowering stuff, ringing up four batters
in the first two innings. Bradford would again strike first in the
top of the third when a hit batter with the bases loaded drove in a
run. Behrend bats would come alive in the bottom of the third when
David Miller (St. Marys/St. Marys) roped a double down the first
base line scoring two and putting Behrend up 2-1. Those runs were
not the only fireworks in the third, as Pitt-Bradford skipper Brett
Butler was ejected after arguing with the umpires.
In the top of the fifth, Bradford would tie the game at 2-2 when a
two-out fielding error allowed a runner from second to make it home.
In the sixth the blue and white would threaten, loading the bases
with one out. A runner caught in a rundown after a failed squeeze
attempt and a strikeout would end the inning with no change on the
scoreboard. Tony Kordecki (New Brighton/New Brighton) led off the
bottom of the seventh with a double, but Pitt-Bradford’s Jake Wells
would get two strikeouts to get out of the seventh and send it to
extra innings.
Koerbel’s magnificent effort continued through the seventh inning,
as the hurler had yielded just three hits to that point. In the
eighth, Bradford’s Shawn Manning would double to lead off and head
coach Paul Benim would go to the bullpen, bringing in sophomore Ryan
Smith (Franklin/Franklin). Koerbel's day ended after seven
innings of work with three strikeouts, four hits given up, and only
a single walk. Bradford would get the bases loaded with
no outs, but Smith would respond. The Behrend pitcher got a
strikeout for the first out and then started a 1-2-3 double play to
get out of the dangerous jam.
In the tenth Manning again led off with a hit, smacking a single up
the middle, and Bradford would again load the bases with one out.
Ben McCracken would then come up big for the Panthers, lining a
two-run single into rightfield and giving his team a 4-2 lead and
eventual winning margin. McCracken then headed to the mound in the
bottom of the tenth and closed out the game, sending the Panthers on
to the AMCC Tournament at La Roche on Friday.
Behrend will await word on a possible ECAC selection, which would be
announced on Monday, May 13.
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