Gannon’s Shayne Herold, Mercyhurst’s Ben Rawding and Penn State Behrend’s Vinny Rice each were named to all-region baseball teams Monday.

Herold made the Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association All-Atlantic Region first team. The redshirt senior right-hander finished the regular season with a 9-0 record and 1.09 earned-run average.

Rawding, a senior left-hander, made the Rawlings/ABCA second team after finishing 9-3 with a 2.66 ERA.

Herold and Rawding each were named to earlier all-region teams.

Rice, meanwhile, made the D3baseball.com Mideast Region third team. The senior first baseman had a .378 batting average with 45 hits and 26 RBIs.

As the college spring sports seasons come to a close, area athletes continue to collect postseason accolades.

Aaron Cressley

Nick Grow

In this week’s On Campus notebook, read about a pair of former Erie County 
high school pitching standouts — Corry’s Aaron Cressley and North East’s Nick Grow – earning all-conference honors.

Cressley, a sophomore pitcher at Pitt-Bradford, was named to the AMCC second team after leading the team with a 2.25 ERA.

Grow, a relief pitcher for Westminster, was named to the honorable-mention all-Presidents’ Athletic Conference team. He broke the Titans’ single-season saves record with eight and set the career saves mark with 11.

Three area softball players recently were named to the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association Atlantic Region all-star team. Mercyhurst sophomore Shaina 
Bunker and Edinboro senior catcher 
Marissa Pullo made the first team, while Gannon freshman center fielder Alexa Archambeault made the Atlantic Region second team.

Also featured in this week’s notebook:

• McDowell graduates De’Vion Tate and John Dahlstrand helped Akron’s track team win the Mid-American Conference outdoor championship.

• Fort LeBoeuf grad Anthony Peluso, a sophomore at Seton 
Hill, was a member of a WVIAC-title winning 400-meter relay team.

• Mercyhurst North East recently named Conneaut Lake graduate Aaron Smith its Outstanding Wrestler of the Year.

Get all the details in this week’s On Campus notebook.

Shayne Herold

Gannon starting pitcher Shayne Herold was named first-team all-Atlantic Region by both Daktronics and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association today.

Herold, a redshirt senior righthander, finished the regular season with a 9-0 record and 1.09 earned-run average.

He was joined on the NCBWA first team by Mercyhurst relief pitcher Tanner Delahoy, a junior righthander who finished with a 2.20 ERA.

Gannon pitcher Aaron Cox and Mercyhurst pitcher Ben Rawding and shortstop Zak Blair made NCWBA honorable mention.

Gannon’s Jeff Bellanca made the Daktronics second team as a utility player.

David Lough

Former Mercyhurst University baseball standout David Lough has been called up to the major leagues by the Kansas City Royals.

It’s his second trip to the big leagues after spending the end of the 2012 season.

Read more about Lough and his call-up on the Extra Innings blog.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Penn State Behrend baseball team lost 3-2 to Wooster in the elimination game of the NCAA Division III championships at Rose-Hulman on Thursday.

The Lions, who rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning but fell short in their comeback bid, finished their successful season with a 30-12 record.

Vinny Rice paced Behrend’s offense with three hits, including a two-out, two-run single in the ninth. Evan Bukowski  also had three hits for the Lions.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The Penn State Behrend baseball team saw firsthand Wednesday night why Marietta is a longtime power in NCAA Division III baseball.

The Lions (30-11), coming off a tremendous offensive performance in the AMCC tournament, had just six hits Wednesday in an 11-1 loss to the No. 14 Etta Express in a Mideast Regional opener on the campus of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Behrend starting pitcher Ryan Jacobs (8-2) took the loss despite allowing just three earned runs on 10 hits in seven innings. He struck out nine and walked two. Marietta pulled away with six runs in the eighth against two Behrend relievers.

Jordan Weinzierl had two hits and Matt Bittner drove in the Lions’ run with a single in the ninth.

The Lions must beat No. 27 Wooster today at 1:15 p.m. to avoid elimination from the tournament. Wooster lost to Thomas More 20-4 Wednesday.

Former Mercyhurst University baseball coach Joe Jordano has the University of Pittsburgh baseball team on the verge of a Big East title.

No. 16 Pitt  (40-12, 18-3 Big East) will take on No. 10 Louisville this weekend in a three-game series. If the Panthers win two games or sweep, they win the title. If the Panthers win once, they share the title with the Cardinals (43-10, 17-4 Big East).

No matter the outcome this weekend, Pitt has a good shot at an NCAA berth.

Jordano, who has 467 wins in 15 years at Pitt, has 750 career wins after logging 283 victories in 10 seasons at Mercyhurst.

Here’s Jordano talking about Pitt’s chance this weekend:

Seven Penn State Behrend baseball players and coach Paul Benim were honored by the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference today.

Benim was named AMCC coach of the year for the fifth time, while Ryan Jacobs was selected as pitcher of the year and John Hlavinka was newcomer of the year.

Benim led the Lions (30-10) to AMCC regular-season and tournament titles. Jacobs, a senior right-hander, went 8-1 and became Behrend’s career wins leader with 28. He also threw the first perfect game in Behrend history. Hlavinka, a freshman outfielder, hit .347 with nine doubles.

Jacobs was joined on the first team by senior catcher Evan Bukowski (.308, 25 RBIs), senior first baseman Vinny Rice (.382, 24 RBIs) and senior outfielder Ryan Kragnes (.398, 44 runs, 25 stolen bases). Kragnes was a third-time first-team selection, while Bukowski and Jacobs made it for the second straight year.

Senior third baseman Matt Bittner (.314, 42 RBIs) made the all-AMCC second team, along with Hlavinka. Junior relief pitcher Chad Zurat (six saves, 2.25 ERA) landed a spot on the third team.

Corry graduate Aaron Cressley, a sophomore pitcher for Pitt-Bradford, made the all-AMCC second team.

Penn State Behrend’s Ryan Kragnes, right, rounds second base on a hit-and-run play against Pitt-Greensburg during an AMCC tournament game May 9. Behrend won the tournament to advance to the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional. GREG WOHLFORD/Erie Times-News

The Penn State Behrend baseball team will face Marietta (Ohio) in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind., Wednesday.

Behrend (30-10) is the No. 7 seed in the eight-team, double-elimination tournament after winning the AMCC tournament Saturday at Behrend. Marietta (29-12) is seeded No. 2. The teams will meet in the fourth and final game of the regional’s first day at 7:45 p.m.

The other six regional teams are No. 1 Manchester, Ind. (35-5), No. 3 Wooster (32-10), No. 4 Illinois Wesleyan (32-12), No. 5 Washington & Jefferson (30-11), No. 6 Thomas More (29-14) and No. 8 Mount Union (23-16).

Each team will play once Wednesday, and the tournament will continue through the weekend. The finals will be played Saturday, but if two teams have one loss through that game, a winner-take-all championship game will be played Sunday.

The NCAA D-III field features 56 teams competing at eight regionals. The winner of each regional will advance to the double-elimination NCAA championship tournament May 24-28 at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wis.

Penn State Behrend won its fifth AMCC baseball championship by beating La Roche 9-5 today at Behrend Field.

Behrend (30-13) took advantage of four La Roche (29-14) errors in the game, including three during the Lions’ seven-run third inning.

Center field Ryan Kragnes went 2-for-4 with two runs scored to lead the Lions, who had five hits in the game.

Tylor Williams (5-2) picked up the win, giving up six hits and four runs (three earned) in six innings.

Right fielder Jon Watson went 3-for-4 with an RBI to pace La Roche’s eight-hit attack. Watson had the game’s only extra-base hit, a double.

Check out the full box score from the game here.

La Roche advanced to the final by beating Mt. Aloysius 11-1 Saturday morning in the completion of a game suspended beacuase of inclement weather Friday.