BASEBALL
ERIE — Senior pitcher Chad Zurat (Clearfield) was one of five Penn State Behrend players named to the 2014 All-Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Team.
The 6-2, 215-pounder was a third-team selection after his first season as a starter for the Lions.
He was Behrend’s closer when he was chosen to the second team in 2012 and the third team in 2013.
Zurat made five starts during the AMCC’s regular season, posting a 4-1 record.
The right-hander ranked fifth in conference statistics in wins but was second in innings pitched (32) and third in strikeouts (37) and earned run average (0.84). He surrendered only 19 hits and five runs, two of them unearned.
Zurat pitched No. 2 seed Behrend’s opener in the AMCC Championship and was on the hook for a loss until the Lions rallied in the late innings to pull out a 9-8 win over Mount Aloysius.
Behrend’s season didn’t end with losses in the next two tourney games as the Lions were tabbed to host the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III South Region Tournament.
That gave Zurat one more start, and he pitched into the sixth inning and logged his 16th career victory as the Lions defeated Bethany (W.Va.) 8-2 for coach Paul Benim’s 500th win.
Behrend (30-14) followed up with a 7-3 win over Gallaudet for its fourth ECAC title.
Zurat (8-2) pitched 63-2/3 innings with 62 strikeouts and a 2.54 earned run average in 12 appearances, all but one as a starter.
In the final AMCC overall statistics, Zurat was third in wins, tied for third in starts, fourth in strikeouts, fifth in ERA and sixth in innings pitched.