McKeesport, Pa. – After clinching a spot in the Penn State University Athletic Conference playoffs for the sixth time in the last ten seasons on Monday, the good news keeps coming for the Penn State Greater Allegheny Baseball team (13-13, 8-7). The PSUAC released their weekly award winners and a pair of PSUGA players are being recognized as Matt Givler (Coatesville, PA./Coatesville HS) took home PSUAC Pitcher of the Week while Brett Yuhas (Munhall, PA./Steel Valley HS) took home the honors of PSUAC Hitter of the week.
Both men played a crucial role in their team claiming the number three seed with a weekend sweep of Penn State New Kensington. It took a balanced combination of hitting and defense and both Givler and Yuhas came through big when their team needed them and they look to continue that success into the playoffs.
The week started with a strong showing by Yuhas, who started all three games of the series for PSUGA going 6-12 with a home run and 10 RBI in the series. It has been a big year for Yuhas as he made the successful transformation from pitcher to position player. He has regularly been placed in the middle of the order by head coach Kenny Creehan, however, he took on a new role in the New Kensington series seeing time as the team’s main leadoff hitter.
The switch paid dividends right away as Yuhas broke out in the series opener going 3-5 with a home run and a single game season high seven RBI in what would be an 11-3 series opening win. His biggest blow came in the top of the seventh when he launched his second home run of the season, a three-run shot, over the center field wall to get his team out to a 10-2 lead in the game. PSUGA rode that success to a series opening win and inched one step closer to clinching a playoff spot.
They entered Monday needing one win in their doubleheader with PSU-New Kensington to grab the #3 seed in the West Division. That is when Givler came in strong turning in the best performance of his career tossing a five-inning No-Hitter in the team’s playoff clinching 14-0 win. Givler lasted the full five innings and allowed just one base runner the entire game giving up a walk in the bottom of the second as his only blemish on the day.
Givler got more than enough offensive support behind him as the bats broke out for 14 runs in the game forcing the five inning mercy rule. The outing marked Givler’s first complete game of the season and improved his record to 4-2. He also owns the second lowest ERA among eligible pitchers carrying a 3.40 ERA through 44.1 innings of work. PSUGA would go on to sweep the doubleheader with a 12-0 win in the second game and are riding into the playoffs with momentum on their side.
Givler and Yuhas are the 11th and 12th PSUGA athletes to be recognized by the PSUAC this season and the 3rd and 4th of the current spring season. Teammate Jordan Williams was the last PSUGA baseball player to be recognized by the conference when he won Pitcher of the Week back on March 26th.
PSUGA begins their PSUAC playoff run with a first-round matchup against PSU-Mont Alto scheduled for Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The games will be played at the PSU-Mont Alto baseball fields located on the Mont Alto campus.
