Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Flemington, N.J. - It was another long day on the diamond for the Penn State Abington baseball squad today in New Jersey. The Nittany Lions lost two games in difficult fashion to Centenary College, falling by one run in each game. Although Abington outhit the Cyclones on the afternoon, it was the hosts who came away with the sweep, including a walk-off victory in the first game.
 
Penn State Abington (0-4, 0-0 NEAC) almost got off to a strong start in the first game of today's doubleheader, but strong defensive play by the Cyclones kept the visitors off the board. Dustin Kology singled to start the game, but was thrown out at second trying to steal. Jesse Goldstein then drew a walk, but on Mike Kerns' subsequent single, Goldstein was thrown out trying to stretch his way to third base. Then, Dan Hill lined out to left field to end the inning.
 
The Cyclones (3-5, 0-0 CSAC) were immediately able to parlay this fine defensive effort into an early lead in the game when they came up to bat in the bottom of the first. Nick Ortiz led off with a triple to right center, and all it took was a groundout to second to send Ortiz home and Centenary in front with a 1-0 lead. That lead was short-lived, however. Abington came right back in the top of the second to tie the game off a long home run from senior Bill Parave. Both teams then traded scoreless innings until the top of the fifth inning, when the Nittany Lions got their first lead of the day.
 
The inning started with two straight singles from Abington, putting Will Erskine and Tom Ditro on first and second base. After a sacrifice bunt moved each up a base, Cyclones pitcher Zach Seres got Jesse Goldstein to popout, and it looked like the home team might escape unscathed. However, Mike Kerns came up with a huge RBI double to left center, and Dan Hill followed with an RBI single of his own, giving Penn State Abington a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the inning.
 
Centenary came right back in the bottom of the fifth, taking a 5-4 lead with a solo and a three-run home run. It appeared as if this would be enough to win the game for the Cyclones, until Abington found some heroics in their last at-bats. With one out in the inning, Dustin Kology singled and made it all the way to third on a fielding error by the right fielder. Then, Jesse Goldstein lined out to right, but it was just deep enough to bring home Kology as the tying run.
 
The tie game meant extra innings, and both teams buckled down on defense as the game wore on. Only Abington got any runners in scoring position in the extra frames until the tenth, when Centenary finally pulled out the victory. A pair of walks in the tenth inning put runners at first and second, and with two outs, Joe Forcellini singled in the game winning run, giving the Cyclones the 6-5, 10 inning victory. Mark McCouch pitched a solid effort , going four innings, giving up just three hits and one earned run. Mike Kerns led the way offensively for the Nittany Lions, going 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs and a run in the loss.  
The second game, while played in a different fashion, still got similar results for the Nittany Lions. Instead of a high scoring, back-and-forth affair, both teams got excellent pitching and basically shut down the other's offense. Bill Parave pitched a complete game for Penn State Abington, giving up just four hits and two earned runs while striking out five. Meanwhile, Eliezer Rivera went five strong innings for Centenary, giving up just two hits and no earned runs while striking out 9.
 
Centenary finally got to Parave in the fifth and sixth innings, scoring a lone run each time to give them a 2-0 lead heading into the top of the seventh and the final at bats of the day for the Nittany Lions. It started off well for Abington, however, when Mike Kerns reached on a throwing error and Dan Hill doubled him home, cutting the deficit to just 2-1. It was all the Nittany Lions would get, though, as Penn State Abington suffered their second one run loss of the day.
 
The Nittany Lions will have a little time off before they hit the road again in search of their first win of the season. Penn State Abington will travel to appropriately-named Winter Haven, Florida for their spring break trip starting next Wednesday. The Nittany Lions will face a host of top-flight teams, including former NCAA regional programs like Penn State Altoona and St. John Fisher College. Keep in touch with abingtonsports.com for all your updates on the Nittany Lions' Florida swing.