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.

PSAC Tournament updates:

Update 1: Cal leads Mercyhurst 5-3 through in the third inning. Check here for live stats.

Update 2: Mercyhurst is batting in the bottom of the sixth trailing Cal 7-6.

Update 3: Mercyhurst trails Cal 8-6 going into the ninth. Cal up in the top of the inning.

Final score: Mercyhurst loses to Cal 8-6 and is eliminated from the PSAC tourney.

PSAC Tournament updates:

Gannon update 1: Gannon takes a 2-0 lead over Slippery Rock in the first inning on Nico Baldelli’s two-run double.

Gannon update 2: A three-run homer by pitcher Aaron Cox has given Gannon a 6-2 lead over Slippery Rock through five innings.

Gannon update 3: Gannon’s Nico Baldelli is now 4-for-4 with 3 RBIs as the Golden Knights lead 8-2.

Gannon update 4: Gannon’s Nico Baldelli is now 5-for-5 with 4 RBIs as the Golden Knights lead 9-2.

Final score: Gannon stays alive in PSAC tourney with 9-3 win. Nico Baldelli goes 5-for-5 with 4 RBIs.

AMCC Tournament updates:

Update 1: Mount Aloysius 3, La Roche 0, final

Update 2: Penn State Behrend leads Pitt-Greensburg 2-0 going into the bottom of the third.

Update 3: Behrend leads 9-3 through eight innings against Pitt-Greensburg in AMCC tourney opener. John Hlavinka and Vinny Rice each have 3 of Behrend’s 16 hits. Rice and and Matt Bittner have three RBIs apiece.

Final score: Behrend beats Pitt-Greensburg 9-3 AMCC tourney opener. John Hlavinka and Vinny Rice each had 3 of Behrend’s 16 hits. Rice and and Matt Bittner had three RBIs apiece.

The Penn State Behrend men’s soccer team is in the midst of its nine-day international trip to Spain. They arrived in Barcelona on Tuesday.

The team, which will tour various landmarks and stadiums, will play local club teams in Valencia for two games during the visit.

You can follow the tour’s journey through its player blog posts here.

Penn State Behrend athletes enjoyed their first meet at their new track Saturday. ANDY COLWELL/Erie Times-News

The Penn State Behrend track and field team enjoyed a landmark moment Saturday when it hosted the first meet at its new track and field facility.

Read more about Behrend athletes’ reaction to the new track in an Erie Times-News story and check out a photo gallery from the four-team meet, which Behrend won.

Penn State Behrend women’s soccer coach Patrick O’Driscoll talks up the 2011 Lions squad:

Penn State Behrend men’s soccer coach Dan Perritano introduces you to the Lions’ prospects for the 2011 season:

Make your plans now to see your favorite Erie-area college sports teams’ events this coming school year. Check out these event calendars:

• Allegheny College
• Edinboro
• Gannon
• Mercyhurst College
• Mercyhurst North East
• Penn State Behrend

Penn State Behrend senior Elliot Blackstone pulled off something this week that’s never been done before in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference — he won his sport’s player of the year award for the fourth straight season.

Here’s what coach Behrend men’s tennis coach Jeff Barger had to say about Blackstone:

“Obviously he’s the best player we’ve ever had at Behrend since I’ve been there, for 13 years. His consistency and hard work paid off for him. A lot of hard work, a lot of effort went into ti, but he was also a great temamate, a great leader on the team.”

The Erie area’s small college cross country athletes are among the best students in the country, according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

The Gannon men had DIvision II’s best team GPA, 3.64.

The Gannon women had the country’s second-best GPA, 3.74.

The Mercyhurst College women had a 3.58 GPA.

Edinboro’s women had a 3.36 GPA.

The Mercyhurst College men had a 3.28 GPA.

Edinboro’s men had 3.16 GPA.

The Penn State Behrend men and women each made the Division III list.

College sports with a northwestern Pennsylvania slant:

• Three Penn State Behrend players are on the Collegiate Baseball Magazine Division III watch list. The Lions open their season March. 6
• Former District 10 star Caitlin Lehberger (Wilmington) is the Presidents’ Athletic Conference swimmer of the week for Westminster.
• Gannon will serve as host for the NCAA Division II East Wrestling Regional Feb. 25-26 at the Carneval Athletic Pavilion.