BASEBALL FAN INFORMATION

SOFTBALL FAN INFORMATION

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State University Athletic Conference will hold its final two championship tournaments of the 2021-22 academic year this weekend as we hit the diamond for a full slate of games. Champions will be crowned on Monday on Penn State's University Park campus after starting in DuBois, Pa. on Sunday.

Baseball will return to Showers Field in DuBois for the fourth straight championship event, as four teams will compete on Sunday to advance to Monday's championship game(s). The tournament started last weekend, kicked off with play-in games and the first round of the double elimination portion of the event at each division's highest seed. The East number one seed Penn State Schuylkill will meet the West number two seed Penn State Mont Alto in the first game as each tries to stave off elimination in the loser-go-home contest.

West number one seed Penn State DuBois will look to continue their dominance and pick up their fourth consecutive conference title. They'll meet East number three seed Penn State Brandywine, who pulled two upsets on the opening weekend to advance into the winner's bracket. The winner of the Mont Alto/Schuylkill game will meet the loser of Brandywine/DuBois game in the loser's bracket finals, a win-or-go home game to conclude Sunday's action.

Softball debuts a new format this season as the first weekend took on more importance. Two pools of three teams each competed in double-elimination play last week, with one team from each pool advancing to championship weekend. Number one seed Penn State Brandywine survived a scare with an early loss but managed to advance through the loser's bracket and avenge their loss to DuBois with two wins on Saturday. Brandywine will look to add to their softball trophy case and earn their seventh straight conference crown. They advance to meet number three seed Penn State Hazleton, who knocked off both Penn State Fayette and Schuylkill to clinch their championship berth. Hazleton looks for their 10th conference softball title, and first since 2010.

Brandywine and Hazleton will now meet in a best-of-3 championship series to claim the trophy and an automatic bid into the USCAA Softball National Championship tournament. 

Both baseball and softball will start their weekends in DuBois at Showers Field and Heindl Field, respectively. The PSUAC will then welcome the championship participants to University Park on Monday as softball will play at Nittany Lion Softball Park and baseball will use Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, both of which are Penn State's Division I facilities. Schedules and other details can be found on the respective championship pages linked below.

BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP PAGE

SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP PAGE

TEAM PREVIEWS

Baseball

West #1 Seed Penn State DuBois: 23-10 OVERALL, 14-1 PSUAC

Players to Watch: Daniel Stauffer (C, 1st Team West All-Conference, West Division Player of the Year); Taylor Boland (P, 1st Team West All-Conference); Tyler Yough (IF, 1st Team West All-Conference); Brett Beith (OF, 1st Team West All-Conference); Cory Lehman (Utility, 1st Team West All-Conference)

East #1 Seed Penn State Schuylkill: 14-10 OVERALL, 12-3 PSUAC

Players to Watch: Jake Leininger (P/IF, 1st Team East All-Conference, East Division Player of the Year); Ryan Culbert (P, 1st Team East All-Conference, East Division Pitcher of the Year); Steele Fekette (C, 1st Team East All-Conference); Ethan Naftzinger (IF, 1st Team East All-Conference); Ryan Jarboe (OF, 1st Team East All-Conference)

West #2 Seed Penn State Mont Alto: 23-9 OVERALL, 13-2 PSUAC

Players to Watch: Zach Garlin (P, 1st Team West All-Conference, West Division Pitcher of the Year); Matt Huston (P, 1st Team West All-Conference); Hayden Kissel (IF, 1st Team West All-Conference); Jared Pine (IF, 1st Team West All-Conference); Brady Bigler (OF, 1st Team West All-Conference)

East #3 Seed Penn State Brandywine: 19-15 OVERALL, 10-5 PSUAC

Players to Watch: Cam Baughman (OF, 1st Team East All-Conference); Tyler Brooks (OF, 1st Team East All-Conference); Connor Thompson (P, Honorable Mention All-Conference); Nick Wright (IF, Honorable Mention All-Conference)

Softball

#1 Penn State Brandywine: 30-11 OVERALL, 16-2 PSUAC

Players to Watch: Crystal Cassario (P, 1st Team All-Conference); Meghan Ferry (OF, 1st Team All-Conference); Karly Rees (C, 2nd Team All-Conference); Jess James (IF, 2nd Team All-Conference); Payton Landis (IF, Honorable Mention All-Conference); Gianna Terpolilli (OF, Honorable Mention All-Conference)

#3 Penn State Hazleton: 17-15 OVERALL, 12-6 PSUAC

Players to Watch: Ashley Wilson (Utility, 1st Team All-Conference); Rebecca Baum (P, 2nd Team All-Conference); Tori Rabuck (IF, 2nd Team All-Conference); Sky Esterly (OF, 2nd Team All-Conference); Athena Matenkoski (OF, 2nd Team All-Conference); Cassidy Lentz (P, Honorable Mention All-Conference); Jess Lepore (IF, Honorable Mention All-Conference)