Box Score Abington, Pa. - Needing a sweep of today's doubleheader against Penn State Harrisburg to get back in the chase for first place in the NEAC conference standings, Penn State Abington's baseball squad came through with a pair of huge victories. The host Nittany Lions used strong pitching and a potent offense to get a clean sweep of their midstate rivals and climb into a tie for first place in the NEAC with Harrisburg with just one week of play remaining in the regular season. Mark McCouch earned the win in both games on the mound while Bill Parave went 4-for-6 with four RBIs on the day.
 
Game one got off to a great start for Penn State Abington (20-17, 10-2 NEAC), as the Nittany Lions got of to an important lead in the very first inning. After Connor Macfarlane kept the visitors off the board in the top of the first, Dustin Kology led off the bottom half with a single through the left side. The senior center fielder then moved up to second on a groundout, and followed that by stealing third base. Bill Parave came to the plate next, and the senior third baseman lifted a deep fly ball into left that scored Kology and gave Abington a 1-0 lead. Then, in the bottom of the third, it was Parave once again with the key offensive hit to increase the lead. With runners at first and second and one out, Parave drove a single into the outfield, scoring Kology once again and making it a 2-0 lead.
 
Penn State Harrisburg (23-11, 10-2 NEAC) didn't waste any time in fighting their way back into the game, however. The visitors finally were able to put together a few hits against Macfarlane in the top of the fifth. With runners on first and second, Harrisburg's batter laid down a great bunt and actually beat out the throw to first. However, that throw was also a little off line, and all the runners moved up another base, giving Harrisburg their first run of the game. Later on in the inning, an RBI groundout tied the game at 2-2.
 
Both teams added single runs over the next inning. In the bottom of the fifth, Kology led off with another single, and later advanced to third on a Parave double. Mike Kerns came to the plate next and drove Kology home with an RBI single of his own to make the score 3-2. However, Harrisburg managed to get out of the inning without any further damage, and then tied the game back up again in the top of the sixth on an RBI single of their own.
 
McCouch came in to pitch in relief in the top of the seventh, getting the final two outs of the inning with the bases loaded, and kept the game tied at 3-3. He then helped out the host's cause by singling to leadoff the bottom of the seventh and getting the winning run on base. Parave came up and grounded out to third, but McCouch used some heads-up baserunning to go all the way to third himself when no other Harrisburg infielder covered the bag. After an infield single from Mike Kerns put runners at the corners, Dan Hill came to the plate and laced a game-winning, walkoff RBI single into center field to give Abington a 4-3 victory.
 
Mark McCouch then continued his strong pitching performance while getting the start on the mound in game two. The senior righty got the first seven batters he faced out en route to a complete game victory. Abington got him three runs in support in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI single from Jesse Goldstein, an infield error, and another sacrifice fly from Parave. Then, in the bottom of the third, the Blue and White added on another run on a balk with runners at second and third. Harrisburg battled back for three runs of their own over the next two innings, but Abington got a couple huge insurance runs on a two-RBI single to right by McCouch himself. When he finally closed out the game with a groundout to second, McCouch finished with three strikeouts and just two earned runs allowed in the 6-3 Nittany Lions victory.
 
The win moves Abington into a tie for first place in the NEAC standings with today's opponent Penn State Harrisburg. Both squads now hold a 10-2 record with just one doubleheader left to play in the season. Abington faces off against rival Penn State Berks to close out the regular season next Saturday, while Harrisburg takes on Gallaudet, the third-place team in the conference. Abington has one more chance to get a non-conference game in this week, when they play Arcadia on Tuesday afternoon. The game will take place on Arcadia's campus at 3:30 pm.