Baseball Team Comes Up Short in Playoffs; Softball Team Clinches Berth

Vol. 6, No. 37



Schedule/Results/Records
(Through Sunday, April 29)

Archery
Thursday-Sunday, May 17-20 – at National Outdoor Collegiate Championships, Sparta, Ill.

Baseball
Final overall record: 22-11
Final PSUAC record: 17-5
Tuesday, April 24 – host Penn State Scranton at Bowman Field, W, 15-0
Saturday, April 28 – PSUAC playoffs at State College vs. Penn State Harrisburg, L, 6-5; vs. Penn State Beaver, L, 9-6

Softball
Overall record: 18-4
PSUAC record: 17-1
Tuesday, April 24 – host Penn State Schuylkill at Elm Park, W, 5-3; W, 11-3
Friday, April 27 – host Penn State Hazleton at Elm Park (2), ppd. to May 1
Sunday, April 29 – at Penn State Mont Alto, W, 6-3; W, 11-1
Tuesday, May 1 – host Penn State Hazleton at Elm Park (2), 2 p.m.
Wednesday, May 2 – host Penn State Scranton at Elm Park, W, 7-0 forfeit; W, 7-0 forfeit.
Friday, May 4 – PSUAC Final Four at University Park, TBA
Saturday, May 5 – PSUAC Championships at University Park, TBA

'Cat Tales
Baseball
A 15-0 win over Penn State Scranton on Tuesday sent the Wildcats into the weekend’s Penn State University Athletic Conference final four as the top seed. Will Moser (Scranton) allowed just one hit in five innings of work to get the win against Penn State Scranton. Penn College hammered out 18 hits, with Phil Woodring (Waynesboro) going 3-for-3 at the plate with three runs batted in, Phil’s brother James going 2-for-5 with three RBI and Levi Bailey (Harrisburg) going 4-for-4 with three runs scored.

In the PSUAC double-elimination final four, it was two and done for the defending champion Wildcats as they lost to Penn State Harrisburg and Penn State Beaver. In the first game, Penn College fell behind 6-1 and battled back to lose by a run. In the second game, it led 6-0 going into the fifth inning, then lost by three. “It was a little tough to swallow. I don’t think anybody expected it,” said coach Chris Howard. “What it boiled down to is we played seven-inning games; we had 12 good innings and two bad ones, and unfortunately it was a little too much for us to overcome. … It was frustrating for everybody.”

Reflecting on the season, Howard had a lot to be proud of.

“They always came out and played hard. We just came up a little short of our goal,” the first-year coach said.

The Wildcats will lose at least two mainstays to graduation – Cody Lytle (Watsontown) and James Woodring. “We’ll have to plug some holes. Those are two pretty big guys in the lineup. They will be tough to replace,” Howard said.

Women's Softball
In the first game of a doubleheader sweep of Penn State Schuylkill, Samantha Mills (Harrisburg) went 2-for-3 at the plate including a two-run home run in the fifth inning. In the second game, Michelle McNett (Canton), Lisa Miller (Cogan Station) and Melissa Berrier (Mifflin) each went 2-for-3 at the plate.

On Sunday, Penn College took two games at Penn State Mont Alto to hike its win streak to seven games and clinch a playoff spot. Ann Marie Prosser (Elizabethtown) went 4-for-6 with a triple to pace the offense. The Lady Wildcats close out the regular season with games Tuesday that will determine their seeding, then enter the Penn State University Athletic Conference playoffs on Friday and Saturday.

(Complete rosters and season schedules are available on the college's Athletics Web site ).