SELINSGROVE, Pa. — The Susquehanna University baseball team is presently tied for second place in the MAC Commonwealth Conference, and appears to be in position to clinch a berth in the conference championship tournament for the first time since 1995 with just a split of its season ending doubleheader Saturday at Juniata (20-12-2, 6-6 MAC CC). That won’t come easy as those games will be the final ones in the 32-year career of Juniata head coach Bill Berrier, who has won 419 games during his tenure.
The top two teams in both the Commonwealth and Freedom Conferences resepctively make the double-elimination Middle Atlantic Conference Championship Tournament, which will begin next Wednesday, May 3, at the site of the two conference champions. The number one team in the Commonwealth Conference will host the number-two team from the Freedom Conference in a single game Wednesday, with the second place Commonwealth team travelling to the first place Freedom team that same day. The teams will all continue the tournament Friday and Saturday, May 5-6, at Quakertown Memorial Park.
Susquehanna is presently 12-12-1 overall, 7-5 and tied for second in the MAC Commonwealth Conference going into Wednesday’s non-conference game at Division I Bucknell (19-21). The Crusaders are tied with Elizabethtown for second in the MAC Commonwealth
Conference standings – just a half-a-game behind first-place Widener (7-4). The Pioneers have to make-up the rained out second game of a doubleheader with Messiah Tuesday – with Messiah taking the opener 6-0 on April 15. If Messiah wins game two, there will be a four-way tie for first-place with Elizabethtown, Messiah, Susquehanna and Widener – all at 7-5 heading into the final doubleheaders Saturday. Susquehanna has the tiebreaker advantage in that situation by virtue of sweeps over both Messiah and Elizabethtown, and a split with Widener.
As of Monday’s MAC Report, Allentown (16-13, 6-2 MAC FC), Drew (17-9, 6-2 MAC FC) and Delaware Valley (18-9, 7-3 MAC FC) appear to battling for the playoff spots in the Freedom Conference going into the final weekend of play.
The Crusader softball team failed to make the MAC Championship Tournament for the first time in three years as it was swept Monday at Commonwealth Conference champion Moravian (0-3, 0-3). With a lineup which often includes six freshmen, the Crusaders finished the season at 14-13 overall to post their fifth-straight winning season in six years under head coach Vince Anselmo. Wednesday’s non-conference twinbill at Western Maryland, and planned make-up home doubleheader vs. Freedom Conference runner-up Wilkes have both been canceled. Susquehanna finished at 7-7 and in fifth place in the Commonwealth Conference.
THE BASEBALL REPORT
Susquehanna has remained in MAC playoff contention to the final weekend in both seasons under head coach Tim Briggs (28-25-1, .528). Last season, the Crusaders and Juniata both needed to sweep each other and get help in order to make the conference post-season. They ultimately split their doubleheader (Juniata 4-0, Susquehanna 6-5) as the Crusaders finished 16-13 overall, 8-6 and tied for second in the MAC Commonwealth standings.
While pitching and defense keyed the Crusader run a year ago, it has been the offense which has led the latest attempt – with the team leading the Commonwealth Conference in batting at .336.
Senior Chad Walters (Oley/Oley Valley H.S.) is this week’s MAC Commonwealth Conference Baseball Player of the Week as he hit .700 (7-for-10) with a double, three runs batted in and a run scored – also extending his hitting streak to 16 games as the team split two games. The conference leader in batting, now at .470 (31-for-66), he extended that streak to 18 games with a single in each game of Monday’s MAC Commonwealth doubleheader at Albright. With three games remaining in the regular season, Walters current batting average and on-base percentage (.545) are the second highest in a season at Susquehanna (Records: .500 batting average, Dan Barker, 1988; .561, Barker, 1988). He leads the team in doubles with seven (0.33 per game), is third among the regulars in slugging percentage (.576), is tied for third in walks (11), and is fifth in RBI (17/0.81 per game).
Fellow senior Andy Berwager (Hanover/South Western H.S.) also keyed the second game victory over Albright Monday with his arm – pitching the complete game nine-hitter while giving up just two earned runs and striking out nine against just four walks. Berwager moved his record above .500 at 4-3, also lowering his earned run average to 5.09 while upping his team high strikeouts to 46 in a staff high 53 innings. He has pitched a complete game in all but one of his eight starts this season. At the plate, Berwager leads the team and MAC Commonwealth Conference in home runs with six (now 0.24 per game), hitting all of them in the last 13 games after going his first 81 in college without one. The six homers tie for sixth most in a season at Susquehanna. The lead-off hitter is also batting .357 (35-for-98) with a team high 31 runs, tying for the ninth most runs in a season. Also with five doubles, his .592 slugging percentage is second among the regulars. On the field, his 235 career assists rank fourth all-time (Record: 257, Gregg Mills, 1990-93).
Other offensive leaders Monday were a pair of juniors in centerfielder Josh Pahl (Northumberland/Shikellamy H.S.) and second baseman Chris Knickerbocker (Hampden, Maine/Hampden Academy).
Pahl was 5-for-7 in the twinbill with four runs batted in and five runs scored, also hitting his fourth home run of the season to rank second on the team. The big day at the plate lifted his season average to .388 (33-for-85), also recording six doubles to lead the regulars with a .600 slugging percentage. He is also second in RBI with 20, and third in runs with 25. Defensively, he also threw out a runner from center Monday. He now has a .977 fielding percentage which includes just one error in 44 total chances.
Knickerbocker is now batting .397 (31-for-78) with four doubles, three home runs, 12 RBI and 12 runs scored following Monday’s 5-for-9 day. He has a .478 on-base percentage which includes 11 walks, and has stolen a team best five bases in seven attempts.
In addition to Berwager, junior right-hander Lee Rogers (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry H.S.) pitched effectively Monday – despite taking the loss in the opener to fall to 0-2. Rogers leads the team’s regular pitchers in ERA at 2.10, ranking fifth in the Commonwealth Conference, and is second in strikeouts with 29 in 34 1/3 innings (7.60). While he doesn’t bat much, playing at shortstop only when Berwager pitches, he went 3-for-4 with three RBI Monday – giving him a .500 average (10-for-20) with four RBI this season.
THE SOFTBALL REPORT
Freshmen Shana Lalo (Bethlehem/Northampton H.S.), Alli Ackerman (Morris Plains, N.J./Parsippany Hills H.S.) and Teresa Ely (Montrose/Montrose H.S.) all had two hits apiece in Monday’s losses at Moravian.
Primarily the starting shortstop, Lalo’s .460 average not only led the team and the MAC Commonwealth Conference as of last week, it tied for the sixth best in a season at Susquehanna. Her 40 hits this season also tied for the third most in school history. She also led the team with 18 RBI, and was tied for second in runs with 21.
Ely and Ackerman were third and fourth on the team in hitting this season at .337 (34-for-101) and .333 (21-for-63) respectively. The starting centerfielder and lead-off hitter, Ely had a team high 23 runs scored. Ackerman was the starting catcher and was second in both double (6) and RBI (17).
Junior Kristen Hogan (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury H.S.) and senior Katy Alwine (Bethel Park/Bethel Park H.S.) also pitched well in their final outings of the season. Hogan (9-7, 2.76 ERA) pushed her school record for career strikeouts to 339 while giving up just two earned runs on eight hits Monday. Alwine finished at 2-2 with a staff low 1.71 ERA after throwing a complete game, five-hitter in Monday’s nightcap. She just missed becoming the third pitcher in school history to win 30 games and strikeout 200 batters – finishing her career at 29-13 (.690) with 198 K’s.
