Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Reading, Pa. - The Penn State Abington softball squad lost a pair of close games earlier this afternoon against Penn State Berks. Abington got two great performances out of starting pitcher Michaela Drogalis, but couldn't generate enough offense to get past the rival Nittany Lions, and lost by scores of 0-4 and 2-3 in the doubleheader.
 
Game one got off to a good start for Abington (10-10, 4-3 NEAC), with Mariellen Medernach reaching base on the opening at bat of the game off of an error by Berks starting pitcher Jess Epler. Berks would get out of the inning unscathed however, with the help from a pair of strikeouts by Epler. Abington did a great job early on in the game themselves of keeping Berks out of scoring position. Drogalis and the Nittany Lions defense shut down the bats of the Berks squad, going through the first three innings scoreless. Drogalis frustrated the Berks hitters, getting ground ball outs on six of the first nine outs she recorded.
 
However, Berks (20-2, 8-0 NEAC) finally got their bats going in the bottom of the fourth. A pair of singles and a walk gave the home team a great chance at getting some runs, with the bases loaded and only one out. Colleen Hoge came through with an RBI single to knock in the first run of the day for Berks, and then Marissa Gonzales followed that up with a bases loaded walk to make the lead 2-0 for Berks. The hosts then added on single runs in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings to ultimately make their lead 4-0. Try as they may, Abington simply couldn't get anything going off of Epler in the game. In their final inning of the game, Trish Watson got things started with a single to center, but a twin killing wiped the bases clean and a strikeout ended things in game one. It was the 15^th win of the season for Epler, while Abington was shutout for just the third time all year.
 
In game two, Berks once again got on the board first. A wild pitch brought in the first run of the game in the bottom of the second. Then, an RBI single from Hoge, once again, made the score 2-0 for Berks. Abington fought back in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 2-2, and who else was at the center of the scoring but Sheila O'Hagan. A pair of walks put runners on first and second for Alyssa Virginio. She laid down a sacrifice bunt to first to move the runners to second and third with two outs. Up came O'Hagan, Abington's leader in almost every offensive statistical category. The junior catcher came through with her 25^th and 26^th RBIs of the year by sending a double into the outfield, scoring Ashley Beyer and Mariellen Medernach.
 
Berks got out of the inning, though, and later put Epler into the game to pitch in relief, and the freshman pitcher got right back into her ways of frustrating opposing batters. She went three up, three down in the top of the sixth inning, and then came up and scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the frame. Epler started the inning with a single, followed by another single, and a sac bunt then moved the runners up. Lexi Lobb came to the plate for Berks and sent a sac fly into left field to score Epler from third and make it a 3-2 game. Epler finished things off in the top of the seventh, getting two groundouts and a flyout to end the game.
 
With the losses, Abington's record is evened up at .500, and the Nittany Lions slip into third place in the NEAC conference South Division standings. They will, however, have a great chance at ending their losing streak and improving their standings when they face off against second-place Wilson for a doubleheader. Game one is slated to begin at 11:00 am in Chambersburg.