Baseball Back in Serious Contention for MAC Tournament Spot,
Needs Home Sweep of Juniata Sat., E-town Sweep of Widener for Berth
SELINSGROVE, (Pa.) — The Susquehanna University baseball team got itself back in contention for second-place in the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth League and a spot in the MAC Championship Tournament with a sweep at league rival Messiah Monday (5-3, 3-0).
Now 15-10 overall, 7-5 in the league for rookie head coach Tim Briggs of Lee, Mass., the Crusaders need to sweep their season-ending home doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. vs. Juniata (21-12, 7-3 MAC CL), and then hope league-leader Elizabethtown (20-8, 9-1 MAC CL) sweeps its home doubleheader that day with Widener (18-10, 8-4 MAC CL). If that happens, Susquehanna will make the MAC Tournament for the first time since winning its only conference title in 1995. Saturday’s games will be the last on Susquehanna’s current Harold E. Bollinger Field.
In between now and Saturday, the Crusaders play a pair of single non-league games, hosting Scranton (6-20) Wednesday at 4 p.m., and then playing at Division II Bloomsburg (24-24) Thursday at 3 p.m.
Regardless of the results this week, Briggs has engineered a remarkable turnaround which could see the team go from being 9-22 and finishing last in the league in 1998, to making the playoffs with a winning record this season.
SCOUTING SUSQUEHANNA
Coming into the season, juniors Andy Berwager (Hanover/South Western H.S.) and Denny Bowers (Westminster, Md./Westminster H.S.) were known as “Susquehanna’s Killer Bs” primarily for their hitting — which landed each of them a spot on the MAC Commonwealth League All-Stars last season. But while each is hitting over .300 this season despite the team’s switch to wooden bats, it is the pitching of Berwager and Bowers which has really led the team.
Berwager threw his first collegiate shutout in the nightcap of Monday’s sweep, blanking Messiah while surrendering just four singles with one strikeout and one walk. He began the week ranked ninth in the MAC in earned run average, and lowered it to 1.71 while leveling his record to 3-3 with Monday’s outing. Berwager has 22 strikeouts and just 14 walks in 42 innings while giviing up just eight earned runs and 35 hits.
He continues to also excel at the plate, going 4 for 8 from his lead-off position with a pair of RBI Monday. He is now third among the regulars this season with a .329 average (27 of 82) which includes five doubles, 11 RBI and 17 runs scored. He has walked a team best 16 times and leads the squad with .444 on-base percentage. He has also stolen eight bases in 11 attempts, ranking 10th in the conference at the start of the week (0.33 per game). Berwager is ninth in career on-base percentage at Susquehanna (.442) and is a career .344 hitter. He’s also continued to be a reliable shortstop defensively.
The 6-2, 250-pound Bowers improved his team leading record to 4-0 while getting the win in the opener, throwing five innings while giving up just two earned runs. He would have also ranked among the MAC leaders Monday if he had pitched enough innings, now with a 1.75 ERA which includes giving up just five earned runs and 22 hits in 25 2/3 innings. He has struckout 20 and walked 22.
Offensively, he is hitting .303 (23 of 76) with a team high six doubles and the team’s only home run for 13 RBI. Bowers was still tied for ninth in the MAC in doubles per game (now 0.25 per game) at the start of the week. He has the fourth-highest career batting average in program history at .375, ranking fifth in on-base percentage (.471) and 10th in slugging percentage (.534). Bowers is the starting left fielder when he doesn’t pitch.
Senior right-hander Chris Hutchins (Flanders, N.J./Mt. Olive H.S.) picked up his first collegiate save in Monday’s opener and appears to be settling in as the closer. He should have that role again Saturday after being the starting ace through most of the season. The 6-4, 230-pound Hutchins is 2-3 with a 3.40 ERA and has a team best 24 strikeouts against just 13 walks in 45 innings.
Also the starting third baseman when he’s not pitching, Hutchins leads the team in RBI with 19 — ranking sixth in the MAC (0.76 per game). While wooden bats have dropped his average to .227 (20 for 88) with four doubles, Hutchins is a lifetime .286 hitter and ranks fifth at Susquehanna in career at-bats (377), seventh in hits (108) and ninth in RBI (70).
Another senior, center fielder T.J. Lane (Brandon, Fla./Tampa Jesuit H.S.) has returned to the form that made him a first-team league All-Star in 1997 as a sophomore. Lane presently leads the regulars in batting average at .333 (26 of 78) with three doubles, two triples, nine RBI and 17 runs scored. He also stole two more bases Monday, giving him a team high 10 in 12 attempts this season. He ranks sixth in the MAC in triples (now 0.08 per game) and seventh in steals (now 0.41 per game). Tied for sixth in career doubles at Susquehanna (23), Lane is a lifetime .330 hitter who is tied with Berwager for 10th in on-base percentage at .442. He is also one of the MAC’s best defensive outfielders with just one error in 41 chances (.976 fielding pct.).
Sophomore first baseman Lyle Hosler (Lititz/Manheim Township H.S.) is the best fielder in school history, going his first 298 fielding chances without committing an error — including 217 this season. Offensively, he’s also been climbing of late from his number-three slot, now hitting .269 (21 of 78) with three doubles, nine RBI and a team best 19 runs scored. Probably the team’s most fundamentally-sound baseball player, Hosler has struckout just four times in 78 at-bats this season and has a .387 on-base percentage.
Freshman Matt Springman (Montoursville/Montoursville H.S.) may have also earned a more regular start as an infielder with his play in Monday’s twinbill. Springman went 2 for 4 with a double, and RBI and two runs scored in the nightcap while fielding both of his chances at shortstop cleanly. While he is hitting just .176 (3 for 17) in his rookie year, he has just one error in 24 defensive chances (.958 fielding percentage).
In addition to Hutchins and Lane, versatile infielder Jason Hartelius (Caldwell, N.J./James Caldwell H.S.) is the other Crusader senior who will probably be playing in his final home games Saturday. Hartelius has played in 14 games this season, alternating between second and third, and is fielding at a .948 clip while batting .242 (8 for 33).
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