Pennsylvania College of Technology baseball and softball teams both are seeded fourth and will be playing at home going into their United East Conference playoff games on Friday in the best-of-three series.

The baseball team (11-5 UE and 18-16 overall) will host fifth-seeded Cairn University (11-5, 24-14) at Bowman Field starting at 1 p.m. on Friday, with an “if needed” game starting at noon on Saturday.

The softball team (10-6, 24-13) will host fifth-seeded St. Elizabeth University (10-6, 20-18) at Elm Park at 2 and 4 p.m. on Friday, with an “if needed” game starting at noon on Saturday.

Winners from both of those series will advance to four-team double-elimination tournaments May 9-11, where conference champions and NCAA Division III qualifiers will be determined.

Baseball

“(During the regular season), we showed some flashes of being a really strong all-around team but had some slipups here and there that hurt us. However, we are still a really young team, and the fact that we came back this year and put together a season to get us back in the postseason with a No. 4 ranking is something that we can be proud of,” coach Chris Howard said.

In first-round UE playoff games on Tuesday, No. 10 Penn State Berks (7-10 all UE, 10-27 overall) defeated No. 7 Lancaster Bible College, 10-4, and No. 9 Wilson College defeated No. 8 St. Elizabeth University, 9-5.

That pits Wilson (7-10 all UE, 9-25 overall) at No. 1 Keystone College (15-1, 28-9), Penn State Berks (7-10, 10-27) at No. 2 Penn State Harrisburg (12-4, 29-9-1) and No. 6 Penn State Abington (9-7, 17-18) at No. 3 St. Mary’s (Md.) College (11-5, 11-14) in other second-round games.

Of its possible playoff opponents, Penn College went 5-3, topping Wilson twice, 8-1 and 6-5; beating Penn State Berks twice, 19-2 and 7-6; splitting with Penn State Abington, losing 16-10 and winning 8-5, and losing to Keystone, 7-3 and 6-3.

“Pitching will determine how far we go this postseason. Our offense has been pretty stellar, but as is every year, if we want to win a championship, our pitching and defense have to be rock solid. The scoring throughout conference play for all the teams seems to be up this year from years past. We have to play confidently and go out there with a nothing-to-lose attitude. The big guys need to step up,” Howard said.

In United East games, the Wildcats have outscored their opponents 171-117. Penn College has a pitching staff ERA of 6.77 to its opponents’ 9.40, it owns a fielding advantage of .968 to .942, and has committed 19 errors to its opponents’ 33.

For the season in at least 25 games, sophomore Shawn Townsend of Hatboro leads the offense with a .429 batting average and is followed at the top by senior Nathan Gustkey of Philipsburg (.412), sophomore Dallas Griess of Williamsport (.367), sophomore Jaydon Goebel of Honey Brook (.360), freshman Levi Purnell of Snow Shoe (.343), and sophomore Matt Munoz of Tobyhanna (.340). Townsend leads with 33 RBIs and 13 doubles, Goebel leads with 38 runs scored, Purnell leads with five home runs, and Griess and Munoz lead with three triples each.

Of the pitchers with at least 10 appearances, freshman Dillon Gallagher of Stockton, New Jersey, has a 4.08 ERA, sophomore Griffin Vollman of Williamsport has a 4.58 ERA, junior Parker White of West Decatur has a 4.70 ERA, junior Ethan Hannevig of Pine Grove has a 6.50 ERA, sophomore Sam Staib of Bloomsburg has a 6.60 ERA, and sophomore Wyatt Hershey of McConnellsburg has an 8.38 ERA. Hannevig is 3-3 and Vollman is 3-2. White leads with two saves. Griffin and Hannevig share the lead with 29 strikeouts each, and Gallagher has 21.

In the NCAA era that began in 2014 for Penn College, Howard’s teams have only missed the playoffs twice — in 2016 and last year — while claiming the championship in 2015 and finishing second in 2017, 2018 and 2023.

“Playoff season is something completely different from the regular season. The teams that are successful in the postseason are the teams that get hot when it counts. I like what our guys have done this season, and I’m looking forward to watching them compete in the postseason,” Howard said.

Softball

For the first time in five full seasons under coach Angela Stackhouse, the Wildcats enter the playoffs seeded lower than second, after two No. 1s and two No. 2s, for the first time. Penn College claimed championships in 2021 and last season while finishing second in 2022 and third in 2023.

“Our strength of schedule, both in conference and nonconference, was the most difficult it has ever been,” Stackhouse said of this season. “We have a lot of freshmen on the field and have needed every game to learn what it takes. Great experience was obtained through this schedule.”

Penn State Berks (16-0 UE, 23-7 overall) is seeded No. 1, followed by Penn State Brandywine (14-2, 30-8) at No. 2, Penn State Harrisburg (13-3, 25-11) at No. 3, Cedar Crest (10-6, 18-20) at No. 6, Wilson (9-7, 20-13) at No. 7, Penn State Abington (9-7, 14-22) at No. 8, Notre Dame (Md.) (9-7, 9-16) at No. 9, and Rosemont College (8-8, 11-25) at No. 10.

First-round games on Wednesday have Rosemont at Wilson and Notre Dame at Abington.

In other second-round games, the Abington-Notre Dame winner will face top-seeded Berks, the Wilson-Rosemont winner will face second-seeded Penn State Brandywine, and Cedar Crest will go to Penn State Harrisburg.

Against its possible playoff opponents, Penn College was 8-6 during the regular season. It lost twice to Berks, 10-5 and 5-4 in eight innings; split with Brandywine, winning 4-1 and losing 7-2; split with Harrisburg, losing 6-3 and winning 5-0; split with Cedar Crest, winning 9-1 and losing 5-3; split with Wilson, losing 4-1 and winning 7-3; sweeping Notre Dame, 5-1 and 5-4 in 11 innings; and sweeping Rosemont, 2-1 and 4-0.

In UE play, the Wildcats own a .343 team batting average to opponents’ .240. They have outscored their opponents 98-51, own a staff ERA of 2.01 to their opponents’ 5.53, have a .954 fielding average to their opponents’ .962, and have committed 21 errors to opponents’ 17.

In all games on offense with at least 95 at-bats, senior Mackenzie Weaver of Montoursville is hitting at a .406 clip and is followed by senior Madison Herriman of Danville at .385,  sophomore Grace Lorson of Jersey Shore at .336, freshman Peyton Crawford of Bloomsburg at .326, and junior Lexi Snyder of Hegins at .301. Weaver leads with 14 doubles, three triples and 40 RBIs, and Harriman leads the team with 37 runs scored. Weaver, Snyder and sophomore Sofia LaSpina of Bellmore, New York, each have one home run.

In the circle, Weaver is 14-6 with a 1.14 ERA, 114 strikeouts and 13 walks, and freshman Mackenzi Tice of Mansfield is 10-4 with a 1.72 ERA, 127 strikeouts and 30 walks.

“Nothing matters until you reach postseason play. Now that we have earned that bid, we have a clean slate and can compete with any team we face,” Stackhouse said.

“We look to lean on our previous postseason experience and make a run for it,” the coach added.

For additional information, visit the Wildcats Athletics website. For more about the United East, visit the conference website