ABINGTON, Pa. – Senior Bill Parave drilled a walk-off single to lift the Penn State Abington baseball team to a 6-5 triumph in game one of a doubleheader against the visiting Bears of Ursinus College on Sunday afternoon, before the Nittany Lions need extra innings and help from a Ursinus outfielder to spark another 5-4 thriller in the nightcap.  

The Nittany Lions went in front 1-0 of game one in the first inning before extending their lead to 4-0 after three innings. The Bears then stormed right back in the top of fourth plating two runs before Abington responded in the fifth as senior Mike Kerns grounded into a double play to bring fellow teammate, Mark McCouch safely across home plate for the 5-2 score.

When it seemed that the game was already in the bag, the Bears were patient and came out of hibernation in the top of seventh with the bases loaded. Ursinus then scored three runs off a single to left field, a single off a bunt, and then a sacrificed fly out to left field to tie up the game at five runs apiece.

Abington had an opportunity, hoping to use the home field advantage to its use in the bottom of the frame but could not muster the winning run Ursinus' pitcher, Steve Berardi got the Bears out of a jam, forcing the Nittany Lions end the inning with three runners on base and the game into extra innings.

Kevin Faber was then called up in the top of eighth, filling in relief for fellow classmate, Daniel Hill, who pitch all seven innings, fanning four batters and allowing five runs on 11 hits. Faber went to work with a quick 1-2-3 inning.

Ursinus then changed pitchers on the switch and Abington quickly attacked offensively as Michael Corrigan singled out to center field, followed by Chris Hunter's bunt single. Dustin Kology executed a perfect sacrificed bunt to move the runners to second and third for a scoring opportunity with one out. Up next to bat was Mark McCouch, but Ursinus had another plan and decided to intentionally walk McCouch, hoping for a double play on the next Abington batter, Bill Parave. Parave, who already recorded three
hits in the game, hit the sweet spot off the bat and slugged out to left center for the game-ending scoring run.

McCouch finished with three hits as Kology and Hill notched two hits with Kology and McCouch scoring two runs each. Faber posted his first win of the season after coming on to pitch the final frame.

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The drama carried over into the nightcap as Abington got on board once again in the bottom of third with five hits, scoring two runs off an RBI single from Parave and a sac fly RBI from Tom Ditro.

Ursinus responded in the top of fourth, plating three runs. With no outs and the bases loaded on a single, a walk, and an error, Josh Schnell singled toward the third base line to round home two RBIs before a sac fly RBI from Christopher Jablonski gave the Bears their first lead of the day at 3-2.

The lead didn't last long for the Bears as Abington took over in the bottom frame as Kology stole third and later scored on an error by the catcher. Senior Mike Kerns doubled out to right center to bring McCouch home from third as the Nittany Lions led 4-3. However, not every lead is safe for very long the game of baseball as Ursinus once again, scoring the tying-run on a bunt single RBI in the fifth.

Neither team could muster up any scoring opportunities past second base in the next three innings, forcing the game into extra innings. The action continued, but nothing was going past the defenders on the field. Finally, after a 1-2-3 punch-out in the ninth inning by Parave, the Nittany Lions managed to get some runners on base, starting with Hill advancing to first after being hit by the pitch and later replaced by the sophomore pinch runner, Jesse Goldstein. Ditro executed a sacrificed bunt to push Goldstein over to second before junior AJ Vagliani ground out to second, moving Goldstein over to third with two outs on the board. Then it was Pat Moran's turn at bat and at the first pitch, Moran slugged out high to left field, throwing his bat in frustration, thinking the inning was over with three outs, as the wind carried the ball towards Ursinus' Jake Neiman's glove and  popped right out, landing onto the green grass. Goldstein urgently sped to home, scoring the winning run unearned for the 5-4 victory.

Parave got his third start of the season for Abington and pitched all nine innings, allowing four runs on eight hits. Parave and Kerns finished with three hits each as McCouch scored a pair of runs.

Abington improves to 8-12 overall and will return to action again on Tuesday afternoon when the team entertains Gwynedd-Mercy for a nine inning game beginning at 3:30 p.m.