Mont Alto Takes If Necessary Game To Win PSUAC Baseball Title

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State Mont Alto forced the if necessary game with a 4-2 win over Penn State DuBois on Monday afternoon at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park in State College. They turned around and then shut out the number one team in the USCAA to capture the 2022 PSUAC Baseball Championship, stopping DuBois streak of conference titles at three.

Game recaps for each game are below.

GAME 1

W#2 Penn State Mont Alto - 4 vs W#1 Penn State DuBois - 2

Penn State Mont Alto outhit the top-seeded Penn State DuBois 10-3 and scratched across enough runs to win 4-2 and force the ultimate if necessary game. Trystan Housman pitched 5 2/3 strong innings, giving up just three hits and two runs to pick up the win. Housman was relieved by Matt Huston, who picked up the four out save over their division rival.

Caiden Smith drove in two runs for Mont Alto, while Jarrett Goodyear and Jonathan Lentvorsky each added two hits for the victors as Mont Alto built a 4-0 lead through five innings. Gavin Kissel added an RBI for Mont Alto.

DuBois' bats were quiet for much of the game, but they picked up life in the sixth as they cut the lead in half, pushing across two runs and leaving the bases loaded in the penultimate inning. 

GAME 2

W#2 Penn State Mont Alto - 3 vs. W#1 Penn State DuBois - 0

A trend of strong outings on the bump continued in this playoff season as Mont Alto's Matt Huston and DuBois' Trevor Hanna combined to put up 10 zeroes on the scoreboard through five innings. It was a perfect way to end a pitcher's dominated tournament as Mont Alto captured their first conference baseball title since 2017.

Huston would continue his dominance, going seven strong innings while giving up just three hits. Despite three errors behind him, Huston struck out four and walked none to keep DuBois off the board. His teammates finally were able to give him some support in the sixth as Huston picked up the win.

Jarrett Goodyear got the scoring started with an RBI single, and a later single by Gavin Kissel would load the bases. That's when Brady Bigler stepped to the plate and singled through the middle of a drawn in infield to score two runs and give Mont Alto a 3-0 lead. That's all they would need as Huston returned to the bump and retired six of the next seven batters--the only batter to reach did so due to an error--to clinch the trophy.

Mont Alto earns the PSUAC's automatic bid to the USCAA Baseball Small College World Series, while DuBois will enter the tournament as the number one seed with an at-large bid.