Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Winter Haven, Fla. - The Penn State Abington baseball squad struggled to match the potent offense of the Cardinals of St. John Fisher College earlier this afternoon, losing both sides of a doubleheader by scores of 10-4 and 8-5. A.J. Vagliani led the offensive output for the Nittany Lions, going 5-for-6 with two runs and an RBI on the day.
 
Game one of the afternoon was basically won by the Cardinals in the second inning. The Nittany Lions simply could not find a way to get out of the frame, as St. John Fisher sent eleven batters to the plate and scored eight runs on six hits and an error in the inning. In fact, the Cardinals were just a double short of hitting for the cycle as a team in the inning, a somewhat rare feat. Things started well for the Nittany Lions, as starting pitcher Sean McNeill got Brad Rush to fly out to start the inning. Then, the proverbial wheels fell off.
 
Three straight singles got the first run across for Fisher. Then, a fielding error followed by a bunt single got the next two runs in before Sean Osterman tripled into left center, scoring two more runs and making the score 5-0 with just one out in the inning. McNeill hit the next batter, and then a lineout to left field scored Osterman from third. With two outs, the Nittany Lions desperately needed to get out of the inning, and they would, but not before Rush came back up to the plate for the second time in the inning and sent a deep drive over the fence in left field to close out the scoring in the frame and make the score 8-0.
 
After being roughed up for eight runs all in one inning, it is easy to understand how a team might be somewhat shell-shocked, but the Nittany Lions (5-8, 0-0 NEAC) did their best to recover from the damage. In the top of the fourth, Mike Kerns singled to lead off, then stole second. Tom Ditro followed with a walk, and A.J. Vagliani singled up the middle to load the bases. Abington was seemingly poised for a huge inning of their own, but Cardinals starter Sean Badger got Fran Caruso to ground into a double play. Vagliani scored, but Badger got Chris Hunter to ground back to the mound, and an inning that started with the opportunity for a huge bang ended with a little more than a whimper.
 
St. John Fisher (7-2, 0-0 Empire 8) came back for two more runs in the top of the sixth to make their lead 10-1 before Abington closed with three more runs in the final two innings. Bill Parave started things off in the bottom of the sixth with a single, and Kerns singled behind him to send him to second. Tom Ditro came through again with a good at bat, doubling to right center to score Parave and send Kerns to third. Once again with two runners in scoring position and nobody out, it seemed like a huge inning was in store for Abington. Vagliani came through with an RBI groundout to score Kerns, but then Caruso struck out and Hunter flied out to end any further threat. The Nittany Lions got one more run on an RBI double from Parave, but in the end the Cardinals ran away with the 10-4 victory.
 
Charlie Huber and Nicholas Cancelliere each pitched strong innings of relief for Abington, giving up just two hits total and no runs, with Cancelliere getting a strikeout as well. Parave, Kerns, and Vagliani each had two hits in the game to lead the Nittany Lions offensively.
 
 
In game two of the doubleheader, St. John Fisher jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning before cruising to an 8-5 victory over Abington. The Cardinals were able to get to Nittany Lions started Dan Hill early, starting the game off with four straight singles before any outs were made. Fortunately, Hill buckled down to get a double play in the next at bat, but a wild pitch scored one more run in the inning to give Fisher their three run advantage early.
 
Abington came back with some offense of their own in the second, all of it coming with two outs on the board. After a groundout and a flyout opened the frame, the Nittany Lions put together three straight singles of their own from Tom Ditro, A.J. Vagliani, and Pat Moran to score Ditro and make the tally 3-1 in favor of the Cardinals. Fisher earned that run right back in the bottom of the third, playing small ball with a sacrifice bunt and RBI groundout to get their three run lead back. Then in the bottom of the fourth, the Cardinals got two more runs when Chris Roeder sent a single through the left side of the infield, making the score 6-1 in favor of the cardinal and gold.
 
Abington got those two runs right back in the top of the fifth. Vagliani started the inning off with a single and advanced to second base on a passed ball. Moran drew a walk, and then Jesse Goldstein came through with an RBI single through the right side to score Vagliani. After a Cardinals pitching change, Dustin Kology singled to load the bases for the Nittany Lions. Then, once again, Abington was bit by the “inning-killing” double play. Reliever Erin Morskai got Mark McCouch to ground into a double play that also scored Moran, and the inning ended with Parave grounding out to third in the next at bat.
 
The Cardinals used the momentum from getting out of the jam to get one of those runs back in each of the next two innings, and by the time Abington came up for their final at bats, the score was 8-3 in favor of Fisher. Once again, it was Vagliani getting things started for Penn State Abington, getting on with a single to open the inning. Pat Moran then reached base on an attempted fielder's choice play that went terribly wrong for the Cardinals and wound up sending Vagliani all the way to third. Goldstein became the first out of the inning when he struck out, and Kology followed with a groundout that sent Vagliani home. With two outs and down four runs, Abington momentarily staved off defeat when McCouch reached on an error by the Cardinals shortstop that also scored Moran. Parave followed with a single, but things finally ended when Mike Kerns fouled out to first base to close the game, with the score going 8-5 in favor of the Cardinals.
 
The Nittany Lions got more solid bullpen work in the second game, with George Klein, Brian Camp, and Robert Morak all combining to go two innings, allowing just two hits, one run, and getting one strikeout. Vagliani had a tremendous offensive game, going 3-for-3 and scoring two runs in the affair.
 
Unfortunately in life, all good things must come to an end, and as every current and former college student surely knows, this includes spring break. For the baseball team, this means an end to the balmy Florida weather and team-bonding experience of the Russmatt Baseball Invitational, but not before they get one more game in tomorrow morning. At 9:00 am, the Nittany Lions will square off against New Jersey City University, and you can catch all your news and notes for the entire Nittany Lions season right here at abingtonsports.com.