CALIFORNIA (May 9) – The California (PA) baseball team opens play in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament with a first-round elimination game versus (E2) East Stroudsburg, hosted by Slippery Rock at Jack Critchfield Park on Wednesday, May 10 at 9:30 a.m.

Tickets: All students from PSAC institutions will be admitted free with valid student ID. Adult tickets are priced at $15 on Wednesday and Thursday before costing $10 on Friday and Saturday, while tickets for children and students are priced at $7 on Wednesday and Thursday before costing $5 on Friday and Saturday. Tickets can only be purchased via TicketLeap; no cash will be accepted at the event and all sales are final. To purchase tickets, you can click the link HERE

Live Coverage: The PSAC will provide live stats and live video for all the games. For additional information about the tournament, please click HERE

Regional Rankings: In the latest Atlantic Regional rankings, Millersville earned the top-spot followed by Seton Hill slotted in the second position while East Stroudsburg claimed the fourth spot and West Chester placed fifth. Mercyhurst was tabbed sixth followed by Cal in seventh before Kutztown and Shippensburg rounded out the top-10 in ninth and 10th, respectively.

Scouting (W3) Cal: The Vulcans (28-19, 15-13) notched 28-wins or more for the 15th time with head coach Mike Conte at the helm. All-PSAC West First Team honoree, sophomore Santino Marra, paced the team with a .400 batting average that ranked second in the league in addition to tallying a career-best 70 hits with 42 RBI, five triples and 30 runs scored. The Vulcans recorded the fifth best batting average in the conference with a mark of .300. Cal will also feature four another All-PSAC West selections in senior Justin Stewart, sophomore Ryan Callahan, sophomore Roman Gill and freshman Jake Kramer.

Vulcans in the PSAC Tournament: Cal will be making its 19^th appearance to the league tournament under Conte as the Vulcans have made four consecutive PSAC Tournament berths in the last four playing seasons.

Scouting (W1) Seton Hill: The Griffins (40-10, 26-2) earned its third 40-win season since joining the PSAC back in 2014. Seton Hill boasts 10 players named All-PSAC West including the PSAC West Freshman of the Year in Jack Whalen. The Griffins recorded the top batting average in the conference with a .315 mark while also pacing the league with 481 hits. Senior Vincenzo Rauso hits at a .380 clip, marking the sixth best average in the PSAC while senior Jack Oberdorf tied the league lead by launching 11 home runs with a conference-best 53 RBI. The starting pitching rotation for Seton Hill will highlight a pair of all-conference arms in junior Jon McCullough and senior Kevin Vaupel. McCullough has posted a 2.44 ERA with a 4-1 record in addition to a .200 opposing team batting average while Vaupel registers 2.04 ERA and 6-1 record on the bump.

Scouting (W2) Mercyhurst: The Lakers (28-14, 21-7) boasts the PSAC West Pitcher of the Year in Jarrett Heilman. Heilman led the league with a 1.38 ERA in addition to tying first place with six complete games while notching 64 strikeouts. Sophomore Eric Chorba, who was named All-PSAC West Second Team, tallies a .317 batting average with 45 hits, 24 RBI and 21 runs scored. Freshman Zachary Kourous posts a .316 average at the plate on 43 hits, 18 RBI and 30 runs scored while being tabbed a All-PSAC West recipient as well.

Scouting (W4) IUP: The Crimson Hawks (23-27, 15-13) pitching rotation combined for six shutouts, highlighted by All-PSAC West First Team selection, Jeremiah Williams. Williams posted a 2.82 ERA with a 5-4 record and tossed a complete game in 54.1 innings. He also struck out 48 batters and holds opposing teams to a .265 batting average. Graduate student Markus Cestra garnered first team all-conference laurels as a designated hitter as he posts a .335 average in addition to six home runs and 36 RBI on 55 hits. Senior Harrison Pontoli notched a .337 average at the dish, 40 RBI, five homers with 56 hits on his way to be voted an All-PSAC West Second Team honoree.

Scouting (E1) Millersville: The Marauders (40-7, 21-3) collected its consecutive 40-win season while claiming the regular-season PSAC East title for a third-straight year and are the defending PSAC Champions. Millersville is led by the PSAC East Athlete of the Year in senior Bren Taylor as he led the conference with a .411 batting average while notching a 1.105 OPS. Taylor also tallied 43 RBI and stole 19 bases in addition to scoring 50 runs. The lineup for the Marauders will feature graduate students Jimmy Losh and Carson Kulina with redshirt senior Thomas Caufield, who were named All-PSAC East First Team honorees.

Scouting (E2) East Stroudsburg: The Warriors (35-11, 16-8) boasts the PSAC East Pitcher of the Year in graduate student Chase Novak. East Stroudsburg registered the best ERA with a 3.13 mark with six shutouts and held opponents to a .237 average. Novak recorded the fifth-best ERA in the league at 2.31 and tossed a pair of complete games while tossing 70.0 innings and notching 72 strikeouts. The pitching rotation will also highlight junior Tom Reisinger, who earned all-conference first team honors with a 2.79 ERA as posts a 6-2 record while leading the PSAC with 89 strikeouts.

Scouting (E3) West Chester: The Golden Rams (28-16, 14-10) tally a pair of All-PSAC East First Team representatives in senior John DeMucci and redshirt senior Joe Kaleck. DeMucci hit at a .383 clip, which ranked third in the conference while tallying 54 hits, 31 RBI and posted a 1.029 OPS with 17 stolen bases. Kaleck is hitting at a .339 rate at the plate and drove in 43 runs on 58 hits. He was also a threat on base with 33 stole bases, marking the third best mark in the PSAC. As a team, West Chester posts a .291 batting average with 419 hits and 29 home runs. The Golden Rams lineup will feature the PSAC East Freshman of the Year in Julian Costa, who hits at a .310 clip with 22 hits, 13 RBI and scored 20 runs.

Scouting (E4) Shippensburg: The Red Raiders (27-22, 12-12) boasts a trio of All-PSAC East Second Team honorees with graduate student Justin Byler, junior Austin LaBarre, and freshman Mike Heckman. Byler is recording a .326 batting average with 63 hits, 14 doubles, 36 RBI while scoring 30 runs. LaBarre has posted a 3.52 ERA in the regular season and led the conference with nine saves while holding opponents to a .224 batting average. Heckman paced the team with a .354 average with 58 hits, 18 RBI and scored 30 runs.

Looking Ahead: The winner of the PSAC Tournament will receive an automatic qualifier (AQ) to the 2022 NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional Tournament. The Mountain East Conference (MEC) will also receive an AQ, while the next top-five teams in the final Atlantic regional rankings will receive at-large bids.
 
2022 PSAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Wednesday, May 10
Game 1: (W3) California (PA) vs. (E2) East Stroudsburg, 9:30 a.m. (loser eliminated)
Game 2: (W1) Seton Hill vs. (E4) Shippensburg 1 p.m. (loser eliminated)
Game 3: (W2) Mercyhurst vs. (E3) West Chester, 4:30 p.m. (loser eliminated)
Game 4: (E1) Millersville vs. (W4) IUP, 8 p.m. (loser eliminated)
 
Thursday, May 11
Game 5: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 10 a.m.
Game 6: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4, 2 p.m.
Game 7: Loser of Game 5 vs. Loser of Game 6, 7 p.m. (loser eliminated)
 
Friday, May 12
Game 8: Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6, 11 a.m.
Game 9: Loser of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 7, 3 p.m. (loser eliminated)
 
Saturday, May 13
Championship Round
Game 10: Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 9, 12 p.m.
(Tournament is complete if Winner of Game 8 wins Game 10)
 
Championship Round – If Game
*Only played if Winner of Game 9 wins Game 10
Game 11: Rematch of Game 10, 4 p.m.