The Moment: 2015 NEAC  Baseball Championship.

When it happened: Sunday, May 10, 2015.

How it happened: Seeded fourth after going 7-7 during regular-season NEAC games and 15-18 overall, the Wildcats, under coach Chris Howard, knocked off top-seeded SUNY Poly, 3-2, in their first playoff game before topping second-seeded Penn State Abington, 9-5, and then clinching the title with a 9-7 victory over third-seed and defending champion Penn State Berks.

They said it: “The guys really stepped up. They were focused. They wanted so much to get that first NEAC championship for the school and they weren’t going to be denied,” Howard said after the championship game win. 

Reflecting recently on the achievement, Howard said, “The key to that championship was the key in so many successful runs in that we got hot at the right time. We went up to SUNY Poly for the last doubleheader of the regular season, we needed a split to get in the conference playoffs and ended up dropping both games. The ride home was pretty quiet until we got word that Cazenovia had dropped their games and we ended up the last seed in the tournament. I can’t tell you the energy that was zapped back in us. We rode that energy the whole tournament and won three straight games to win the championship.

“One of the best memories I have was watching the pure joy the team had playing the games. We could do no wrong and any athlete will tell you when you have a stretch like that just sit back and enjoy every minute of it!”