Box Score Auburndale, Fla. - The Penn State Nittany Lions got back in the win column earlier Wednesday afternoon with a 10-7 victory over St. Vincent College. Senior centerfielder Dustin Kology led the way for the Blue and White, going 3-for-5 at the plate and knocking in four runs.
 
Abington (3-6, 0-0 NEAC) came sprinting out of the gates, scoring a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. Kology got things started with a single, then advanced to second on a passed ball. Then, Mark McCouch earned a walk, with ball four coming as a wild pitch that advanced Kology to third. With two on and nobody out, the Bearcats of St. Vincent got a huge pair of outs, however. On the next at bat, Bill Parave grounded to first, and Kology came home trying to score. However, the first baseman fired a bullet home, and the Bearcats catcher made a strong tag to get the out. As Kology was trying to score, McCouch attempted to leg it to third, but he was also put out on the play. So, from two on and nobody out, the Nittany Lions went to two outs and just one on.
 
Fortunately though, it was just a small roadblock en route to getting some runs in the inning. Mike Kerns singled to right in the next at bat, and both Kerns and Parave moved up a base on a wild pitch. Enter Dan Hill, the 6-0 senior starting at first base in the game. Hill laced a solid single into right field, scoring both Parave and Kerns and giving the Nittany Lions a 2-0 lead before St. Vincent had even batted.
 
The Bearcats (1-3) were undeterred by their early deficit, however. Over the next three innings, they turned a two run shortfall into a two run lead. By the time Abington came to bat at the top of the fourth, they were trailing 4-2. Enter Dustin Kology once again for the Nittany Lions. With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the fourth, Kology laced a ball into right field for bases-clearing triple, putting Abington back on top 5-4.
 
Once again, St. Vincent fought back, getting two runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth to retake the lead at 6-5. Strangely, both of the runs were unearned, and both came on bases loaded walks from two different Abington pitchers.
 
As the game continued on, things started looking more and more bleak for the Nittany Lions. Over the next couple of innings, Penn State did less than nothing offensively, only managing to draw a walk in the two innings. They broke out in a big way in the top of the eighth inning, however.
 
Mike Kerns got it started with a single to shortstop. After Hill struck out, Tom Ditro singled to right center. The two of them then moved up a base on a wild pitch, causing the Bearcats to intentionally walk A.J. Vagliani, since first base was open anyway. The move would prove to cost them dearly. All three runners moved up on yet another wild pitch, scoring Kerns and tying the game at 6-6. Pat Moran then hit a sacrifice fly into right, scoring Ditro and moving Vagliani to third with two outs. St. Vincent brought on a reliever to try and end the damage, which he did. But not before giving up two more runs; a triple from Jesse Goldstein brought in Vagliani, and then Kology came through with yet another RBI, singling in Goldstein. By the time the inning was over, the Nittany Lions had put four runs on the board and led 9-6.
 
Meanwhile, Abington brought on Kevin Faber to get a six-out save, and he did so masterfully. Faber struck out the first two batters he faced, and then got a weak flyout to center to end the eighth. After Mike Kerns singled in the Nittany Lions' tenth run of the game in the top of the ninth, Faber scattered an unearned run around another couple of strikeouts and a groundout, and the Nittany Lions came away with the 10-7 victory.
 
With the win, Penn State Abington moves to 3-6 on the year and 3-2 on their Spring Break trip. They'll be right back on the diamond tomorrow for an early morning game against Trine University (Indiana). Gametime is set for 9:00 am. Be sure to keep checking in here at abingtonsports.com for all your Nittany Lions updates!