At various points throughout this season, the Pitt-Bradford baseball team has had to overcome some form of adversity.

Early on, it was a four-game losing streak that included a pair of losses in the opening double-header of conference play to Mount Aloysius. It was also losing two starters off the top of the rotation, including ace pitcher Ryan Boyer, and having to play the “next man up” game.

Lately, it’s been a pair of one-run losses in conference play in games that the Panthers had a shot to win — a 1-0 loss to Pitt-Greensburg and a 9-8 loss in 12 innings to Penn State-Behrend.

So perhaps it’s only fitting, then, that the Panthers are set to try to overcome one more obstacle — making the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament.

UPB currently has a 14-12 record overall, including a 7-7 record in conference play. That conference record is good for seventh in the AMCC, which precludes the Panthers from the conference tournament.

However, they sit just one game back from the sixth spot, which makes the AMCC Tournament and is currently held by a pair of teams tied in the standings — Pitt-Greensburg (11-17, 8-6) and Alfred State (15-15, 7-5).

To make that happen, Pitt-Bradford is just taking things slowly, according to head coach Zach Foster.

“We don’t play the scenarios out too much,” Foster said. “We need to just control what we can control — our attitude and intensity… We’ll just take it game by game, and even pitch by pitch.”

For a team with a lineup littered with underclassmen and three to five freshman on the field at any given point, to even be in the position the Panthers are in is remarkable. Foster noted that it’s the team’s seniors that have guided the young core, and that the young core has developed and stepped up when called upon.

That mindset begins with the pitching rotation, which presently features a junior and three freshmen.

Andrew Bacha is the junior of the mix, and has posted a 2-2 record through seven starts this year. He has an ERA of 4.63 across 35 innings of work.

The three freshmen are Logan Edmonds, Reid Tarnowski and Alex Miles.

Edmonds is 2-4 through six starts, and has an ERA of 3.40 through 39.2 innings. Tarnowski has added a 3-2 record and an ERA of 3.34 through 29.2 innings pitched, and Miles is 2-1 through four starts with an ERA of 4.39 in 26.2 innings.

“We’ve had those guys step up, and that’s been a bright spot for us. It’s three freshmen and a junior, and they’ve been pitching pretty well,” Foster said.

In the field, the team is guided by All-American catcher Austin Parent. Though he’s been limited by consistent intentional walks (he’s been walked a total of 29 times this year), he’s still been a bright spot for the team, Foster says.

The charges behind him are starting to up their game, too.

“The guys behind him are starting to pick it up and understand that if they walk (Austin), they have to do the damage themselves,” Foster said.

First baseman Matt Hair leads the team with a batting average of .344, and Parent’s average of .320 ranks second. They’ve driven in 18 and 14 RBI, respectively.

Foster also noted that freshman outfielder Tyler Aires is beginning to swing the bat well, which has contributed greatly to the team. He has an average of .237 and five RBI.

So as it’s been all season, Foster and his charges are going to need to keep getting good leadership from upperclassmen like Hair and Parent, while also getting strong play from freshmen like Aires and the trio of frosh pitchers.

The Panthers have three double-headers remaining, two of which are within the AMCC. The team travels to Medaille today and then takes on La Roche, who sits at second in the conference with a 10-2 AMCC mark, on the 27th.

The season concludes with a non-conference matchup with Wilson on April 30.

Foster is clear about what needs to happen down the stretch with his team.

“We need to sweep Medaille, plain and simple, and we need to do something against La Roche, and that’s pretty much it,” Foster said. “The guys know that, and they’re not putting too much pressure on themselves.”

And if the Panthers win one game, and one pitch, at a time, they know the opportunity is there to do some damage in the postseason.

“Every game is important at this point,” Foster said. “And that’s our identity — we’re never out of a game.”