Box Score Abington, Pa. - The Penn State Abington baseball squad took home a tough 4-2 defeat to nearby Swarthmore earlier this afternoon. The Nittany Lions came back from an early 1-0 deficit, but ultimately were shut down by Garnet starter Ramsey Walker, who pitched a complete game while earning the win. Senior catcher Mike Kerns led the Blue and White, going 2-for-4 on the afternoon with both of the team's RBIs.
 
Swarthmore (11-6, 0-0 Centennial) used a productive first inning to jump out to an early lead over the Nittany Lions with an unearned run. After a single and a strikeout to open the game, the next Garnet batter, Nicko Burnett, laced a ball to shortstop. The ball was originally bobbled by Tom Ditro, allowing Burnett to reach first. Tim Kwilos, originally on first base, made it to second on the play, then advanced all the way to third when Ditro's throw to first sailed wide. After that, all it took was a ground ball to shortstop turned for a fielder's choice that allowed Kwilos to score and gave Swarthmore their 1-0 lead.
 
The Nittany Lions (8-13, 0-0 NEAC) came back immediately in the bottom of the first. Dustin Kology reached first on an infield single, and then Mark McCouch followed with a bunt single to third to set up runners on first and second for Bill Parave. The senior third baseman crushed a ball to deep center field. With the Garnet's center fielder chasing the ball back to the fence, Kology had to wait halfway between second and third. After the ball dropped, Kology was forced to go home with McCouch hot on his heels arriving at third. The relay throw from center field was solid, and Kology was tagged out at the plate to preserve the Garnet lead. Still, Parave ended up with a double on the play, and stretched his current hitting streak to 14 games, a program record for Penn State Abington. Mike Kerns came to the plate next, and the stocky senior came through with a clutch double down the left field line, scoring McCouch and Parave and giving Penn State Abington a 2-1 lead.
 
The scoreline remained the same until the top of the fifth, when Swarthmore retook the lead for good. The Garnet put together a one out rally, scoring two runs with an RBI single and a sacrifice fly to center to jump ahead by a 3-2 score. Then, in the top of the seventh, the visitors added an insurance run off of Nittany Lions starter Connor MacFarlene with an RBI single, and it was all the Garnet would need. In the bottom of the ninth and still trailing 4-2, Abington tried to generate some offense with a couple of pinch hitters. Fran Caruso came in with one out and laced a single into center field, but Garnet starter Ramsey Walker buckled down to get the next to outs and preserve his complete game victory.
 
With the loss, the Nittany Lions move to 8-13 on the season, with their next game coming this Saturday against Gwynedd-Mercy. Gametime is set for 12:00 pm. Be sure to come out and enjoy some warm weather, and see if Bill Parave can extend his program record hitting streak!