NORTH BOSTON, N.Y. – Penn State Altoona baseball was voted fifth in the 2025 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference's Preseason Coaches' Poll, the results of which were announced on Tuesday morning.

Penn State Behrend, the defending AMCC champion, was predicted to repeat this season by conference coaches. Mount Aloysius College, which finished first in the regular season standings last spring, was voted second, and Alfred State College came in third.

Penn State Altoona posted a 17-20 overall record last season, including going 8-8 in the AMCC to settle into fifth place by the conclusion of the regular season. The 2025 edition of the Lions features 25 returning players from last year, with head coach RJ Barnard entering his ninth year at the helm.

Highlighted in the poll as "Players to Watch" for Penn State Altoona this season were senior utility player Jake Hillard (State College, PA/State College) and senior outfielder Tyreke Green (Altoona, PA/Altoona).

Hillard was a first-team All-AMCC pick last season. Among all hitters in the league, he ranked 18th in home runs (3), 20th in runs scored (29), 21st in hits (43), 24th in triples (1), 27th in runs batted in (23), total bases (57), and stolen bases (7), 32nd in walks (15), 34th in batting average (.312), 38th in slugging percentage (.413), and 40th in on-base percentage (.380).

Green was voted to the third team of the All-AMCC squad last year. He led the conference in sacrifice hits (14) while also ranking 14th in triples (2), 19th in stolen bases (9), 25th in walks (16), 26th in hits (39), batting average (.325), and on-base percentage (.406), 27th in runs scored (26), 30th in runs batted in (22), 33rd in slugging percentage (.433), 34th in total bases (52), and 39th in doubles (6).

Penn State Altoona baseball opens its 2025 schedule on the road Sunday, February 23, traveling to face non-conference opponent Mary Baldwin University in a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m.