ERIE – Pitt-Bradford advanced to the Allegheny Mountain
Collegiate Conference double-elimination baseball tournament with a
9-0, 4-2 sweep over Penn State Behrend in the best-of-three play-in
series Saturday afternoon.
Ricky Riesenberger scattered seven hits in the opener, and Jake
Wells registered the victory in relief and Ben McCracken earned the
save in the 10-inning nightcap.
“I am very proud of this baseball team,” said Bret Butler,
Pitt-Bradford head coach. “We had a long week of battles and living
on the bus, but our guys are just a bunch of resilient, tough
baseball players. I am not sure if anyone gave us a chance in this
two-out-of-three series at Behrend. Even the AMCC Web site called
it a ‘mild upset.’ One thing is for certain. This team knows that
it was not an upset. From the moment they got off the bus Saturday
morning they were determined to sweep Behrend and end Behrend’s
season on its own field.”
In the opener, the Panthers scored a run in the second inning on
an RBI single by McCracken and another in the third on a
run-producing single by Tanner Bechtel.
Pitt-Bradford blew it open with five runs in the fourth on RBI
base hits by Jim Colestro and Dom Morelli, a two-run single by
Shawn Manning and a throwing error.
The Panthers, who pounded out 16 hits in the first game,
extended their advantage to nine runs in the fifth on an RBI single
by Zach Hetrick and a RBI sacrifice by Colestro.
Riesenberger (6-2) scattered seven hits, struck out eight and
walked just two for the victory.
“Ricky (Riesenberger) threw a gem in his shutout,” Butler
declared. “All of our pitchers pitched their guts out on short rest
after the Medaille series on Thursday.”
The Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the third frame of the nightcap
when Manning was plunked by a pitch with the bases loaded, but
Behrend answered with two in the bottom half on a two-run single by
David Miller off starter Zach Foster.
Pitt-Bradford tied the contest at 2-all in the fifth when Corey
Smock singled, stole second and scored on an infield miscue.
The game remained deadlocked until the 10th when McCracken came
through with a bases-loaded two-run single to give the Panthers a
4-2 lead.
McCracken then relieved Wells and retired the Lions (27-12) in
order on two strikeouts and an infield popup.
Wells (2-2) hurled three-and-a-third scoreless innings for the
win and McCracken earned his second save of the season.
“We could not have played a better game defensively,” Butler
noted. “I could point to numerous plays that were game-saving, but
none were bigger than Jimmer Colestro knocking the ball down in
extra innings with only one out and a man on second. If that ball
gets through to center field, the game is over and it forces a
third game.
“Jake Wells had a gutsy performance out of the pen,” Butler
added. “It is hard to beat good pitching and stellar defense. Mix
in a good day at the plate and you knock your rival right out of
the tournament. I can’t say enough about the effort these guys put
forth game in and game out.”
The fifth-seeded Panthers (22-12) will now travel to Pittsburgh
on Friday (noon) to face top-seeded La Roche College (23-15).
