Fresh off its first Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference championship since the 2017 season, the Penn State Mont Alto baseball team will now shift its focus to the Small College World Series. The Small College World Series will be held at Showers Field in DuBois, Pennsylvania on Monday, May 16-Thursday, May 20.

Penn State Mont Alto's quest to win a Small College World Series title starts on Monday, May 16 when they take on D'Youville University at 1:30 p.m. By winning the PSUAC conference title, Penn State Mont Alto earned the automatic bid for the tournament. The road to get there wasn't easy as they had to win four straight games to clinch the automatic bid and tournament championship. Penn State Mont Alto found itself down 3-1 early in the first game Sunday afternoon against Penn State Schuylkill. Hayden Kissel plated Jared Pine on a double to center field to cut the deficit to 3-2 in the seventh inning. Tyler Moreland drove in Kissel on a sacrifice fly to right field to tie the contest at 3-3. Each team scored two runs in the 8th inning. Penn State Mont Alto scratched the winning run across the following inning to win the first game.

Penn State Brandywine would be Penn State Mont Alto's next opponent on the afternoon. The score remained tied at 2-2 until Penn State Mont Alto opened things with an eight-run bottom of the fourth inning. Nathanial Smith recorded two hits in the inning, the first one a double to center field. He also scored two runs on a single later in the inning. Logan Layton had a strong start for Penn State Mont Alto, lasting five innings while recording seven strikeouts. For Layton, he earned his fifth win on the season. Penn State Mont Alto advanced to Monday's Championship by defeating Penn State Brandywine, 11-5.

Penn State Mont Alto would face a familiar foe in the championship game, PSUAC West Division rival Penn State DuBois. Both teams ranked top five nationally in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association poll all season long, with Penn State DuBois currently sitting #1. Penn State DuBois went into the championship contest leading the season series advantage three games to one. Gavin Kissel started the scoring in the second inning with an RBI single. Jarrett Goodyear provided some insurance with his RBI single in the top of the fourth. Penn State Mont Alto led 2-0 after four innings. Caiden Smith provided the big insurance hit when he plated Jared Pine and Brady Bigler with a two RBI hit. Penn State Mont Alto led 4-0 after five innings. Penn State DuBois would attempt a comeback, recording two runs in the bottom of the 6th. The comeback effort fell short as Penn State Mont Alto forced the "if necessary" game, defeating Penn State DuBois 4-2. Trystan Housman picked up his fifth win of the season with a 5+ inning performance, striking out three batters. Matt Huston earned the save as he went 1.1 innings and struck out a batter.

Pitching and timely hitting was the story for Penn State Mont Alto in game two of the PSUAC championship. Matt Huston might not have had his best performance of the season from a statistics perspective, but this outing helped the team win its first championship in five seasons. He went the distance in the deciding game, throwing seven innings while striking out four and allowing just three hits. Penn State DuBois was held scoreless for the first time all season in Monday's championship game. Jarrett Goodyear continued his strong weekend with a RBI single in the sixth inning to break the scoreless tie. Brady Bigler followed that up two batters later with a two RBI single to push the lead to 3-0. Newly named PSUAC West Division Player of the Year Daniel Stauffer was held hitless in seven plate appearances by the Penn State Mont Alto pitching staff. Four of the seven plate appearances ended in a strikeout.

USCAA First Round Preview

Penn State Mont Alto will take on D'Youville University from Buffalo, New York. On the season, the Saints have an overall record of 14-20 with a 7-11 record in the East Coast Conference. D'Youville has been led offensively by Ethan Hammond. Hammond is batting .407 with 13 doubles and 22 runs batted in. Alex Dzimian is second on the team in hits with 48. He is batting .393 with 18 runs batted in and seven doubles. Jeremy Glinski is currently third on the team in hits with 40. USCAA All-American nominee Chris AuClair has been the ace for D'Youville, he is currently 5-2 with 72 strikeouts over 58 innings. His strikeout total ranks 3rd in the USCAA.

Penn State Mont Alto enters this first round contest winners in 11 out of their last 12 games. Over the weekend, they survived the losers' bracket of the PSUAC tournament. They won four straight games Sunday and Monday, defeating Penn State DuBois twice on Monday to claim their first PSUAC championship since 2017. Jared Pine has been an efficient leadoff hitter for Penn State Mont Alto. Pine was recently named to the PSUAC First-Team. On the season he is batting .405 with nine doubles, six triples and 23 runs batted in. Hayden Kissel is second on the team in hits with 38, he is currently batting .306 with 12 doubles and 24 runs batted in. Jarrett Goodyear and Brady Bigler have been instrumental for Penn State Mont Alto during the twelve-game stretch. Goodyear is batting .364 with 16 hits on 44 at-bats during that time. Brady Bigler is batting .378 over the last twelve games with 14 hits in 37 at-bats.

The pitching staff for Penn State Mont Alto has been a critical piece to the puzzle this season. PSUAC West Division Pitcher of the Year Zach Garlin headlines the staff. On the season, Garlin is 5-3 with a 3.36 ERA. In 56 innings, he leads the USCAA with 78 strikeouts. Logan Layton is sporting a 5-2 record and has recorded 59 strikeouts over 50 innings. Trystan Housman has a 5-2 record with 41 strikeouts in 47 innings and a 2.87 ERA. Matt Huston got the ball in the critical final game of the PSUAC tournament. He went the distance and is perfect on the season with a 5-0 record. 

Up Next: Penn State Mont Alto vs D'Youville University Monday, May 16 at 4:30 p.m. (Time changed)

Live Stats: https://psumontaltoathletics.com/sports/bsb/2021-22/boxscores/20220516_gc28.xml

Video: https://www.uscaasportsnetwork.com/?B=392347

Admission: $10 for day pass, $25 for tournament pass https://uscaa.ticketleap.com/2022-small-college-world-series/ Cash only accepted at gates for day of event sales