Baseball Readies For First-Ever USCAA World Series Appearance

The Penn State Brandywine baseball team will play for the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Small College World Series for the first time after accepting an at-large bid to the tournament, which begins Monday at Showers Field in DuBois, Pa.

Brandywine will be the No. 8 seed and open the World Series against top-seeded Cincinnati-Clermont on Monday at 12:45 PM.

Eight teams will be in DuBois competing at the double-elimination tournament. The championship is set to be played Thursday, May 20.

Ten items to know as Brandywine prepares for the USCAA Small College World Series:

• Brandywine has never faced Cincinnati-Clermont on the diamond. UCC has played in nine USCAA World Series since 2009 and claimed the 2013 national title.
• The Lions finished in third place at last week's PSUAC Tournament. Both Penn State DuBois, the conference champion, and Penn State Mont Alto, the PSUAC runner-up, received bids and will join Brandywine at the World Series.
• Brandywine owns a 12-6 record (7-4 PSUAC) during the abbreviated season. The Lions captured the PSUAC East Division title for the third time in four full seasons under Head Coach Vinny Gallo.
• Seven players from Brandywine earned all-conference honors from the PSUAC. Tyler Brooks, Ben Mutz, Kyle Oechsle and Nick Wright were all first team selection.
• Brooks was also named PSUAC Newcomer of the Year and continues to own the nation's top batting average at .563 with 27 hits in 48 at-bats. Brooks also tallied a team-best three home runs, 15 runs scored and 10 stolen bases.
• The Brandywine pitching staff has combined for the second-lowest team ERA in the USCAA this spring. The Lions own a 4.21 ERA, having allowed 60 earned runs in 128.1 innings. Individually, Dan Nearey has pitched to a 2.59 ERA, fourth-best among all USCAA pitchers. Brandywine also leads the USCAA in strikeouts per nine innings (9.89).
• Senior Brian Reynolds needs one hit to reach 120 knocks for his career. The three-time all-conference catcher would be Brandywine's first player since 2015 to collect at least 120 career hits.
• Reynolds will also compete in the USCAA Home Run Derby on Sunday night. He owns two career home runs, including one this spring.
• UC-Clermont owns a 16-8 record entering the USCAA Small College World Series after winning six of its final seven games. The Cougars will have been idle since April 18 when they complete a four-game sweep against Alice Lloyd College.
• Joining Brandywine and UCC at the World Series are No. 2 Penn State DuBois, No. 3 Mississippi University for Women, No. 4 Penn State Mont Alto, No. 5 Wright State-Lake, No. 6 Bryant & Stratton-Albany and No. 7 Mid-Atlantic Christian.