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Penn State Behrend Lions

Four Lions Recognized by Collegiate Baseball Magazine

Collegiate Baseball Magazine recently announced its 2013 NCAA Division III Player to Watch List, which includes four Penn State Behrend players.

Four Lions Recognized by Collegiate Baseball Magazine
February 5, 2013

ERIE, Pa. - Collegiate Baseball Magazine recently announced its 2013 NCAA Division III Player to Watch List, which includes four Penn State Behrend players.

Two seniors Matt Bittner (Lancaster, NY/St. Mary's) and Ryan Jacobs (Port Vue, PA/South Allegheny) along with junior pitchers Chad Zurat (Clearfield, PA/Clearfield) and Dante DeSantis (DuBois, PA/DuBois) made the prestigious list.

"This is such an honor for these four guys," said head coach Paul Benim. "They were tremendous for us last season and will once again be relied upon as we meet the challenges of the 2013 schedule."

Bittner is a highly decorated senior, who earned First-Team AMCC honors, was a Second-Team ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division III All-American, and was the ABCA/Rawlings Mid-Atlantic Region Player of the Year in 2012. The third baseman led the Lions in hits (63), doubles (20), triples (5), home runs (6), and RBIs (52). Bittner finished the year with a .387 batting average and a team-leading .681 slugging percentage.
 
Jacobs was tabbed as the team's Most Valuable Pitcher. Jacobs was dominating on the mound a year ago, leading the team in strikeouts (83), innings pitched (69.2), and wins (8). He tied the single-season record for strikeouts and earned First-Team All-AMCC accolades.
 
Juniors DeSantis and Zurat will be a powerful punch on the mound this spring.  Last year, DeSantis picked up six wins while striking out 76 batters in 64.1 innings of work.  Zurat, who was named to the All-Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) second team, led the squad with a 1.91 earned run average in 37.2 innings of work. The sophomore hurler struck out 48 batters and tied the school record for saves in a season with seven. He was also named to the 2012 D3Baseball.com All-Mid-Atlantic Region third-team.
 
Since 2009, twenty-three Lions have been recognized by Collegiate Baseball Magazine.
Behrend will begin the season on March 2 at Maryville.  Game one of the doubleheader is set for 1 p.m.