Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Abington, Pa. - The Penn State Abington baseball squad did their best to help send their seniors out in style earlier this afternoon. The Nittany Lions rebounded from a game one loss by celebrating the careers of their ten seniors and then earning a hard-fought 6-3 victory over opponents Penn State Berks. Sean McNeill got the win in game two, while Tom Ditro recorded the save and Mike Kerns went 4-for-6 with the game-winning RBI.
 
Game one got off to a good start for visiting Berks (12-22, 7-7 NEAC). With the road team looking to shore up their standing and hold onto the final playoff position in the NEAC, Berks managed to jump out to a 1-0 lead in the third inning. With one out, back-to-back singles set the table for Clinton Faust, and the senior left fielder banged a ground ball that the Nittany Lions infield couldn't field cleanly to give Berks their lead.
 
Penn State Abington (20-19, 10-3 NEAC) managed to claw their way back out in front when they came to bat in the bottom of the fifth. Tom Ditro and Ted Smallwood both reached base around a fielder's choice to open the inning, setting things up for A.J. Vagliani. The junior left fielder smashed a sacrifice fly to right field to tie things up at 1-1. Then, Dustin Kology laced a single up the middle, scoring Smallwood and giving Abington a 2-1 lead. That lead would be short lived, however, as Berks would go on to score four runs over the next two innings to retake a 5-2 lead. Abington did scrap back for one run in the bottom of the seventh on another RBI single from Kology, but it was simply too little, too late, and Berks walked away with the 5-3 win.
 
In between the two games, the team celebrated the careers of their ten senior players from the 2013 squad in what was originally scheduled to be their final home game of the season. This celebration seemed to spur the team on in game two, but not until Berks had once again jumped out to an early lead. The visitors struck first once again in the second contest, scoring single runs in the first and third innings to take a 2-0 lead. Finally, however, in the bottom of the fourth, Abington put together a big offensive inning of their own to take the lead for themselves.
 
With one out, Mike Kerns got things started with a double well over the head of the center fielder. After a balk moved Kerns up to third, Dan Hill laced a single into center field to score the senior catcher and make it a 1-2 game. Ditro came to bat next and reached on a fielder's choice, putting Hill out at second. Ditro followed that up with a steal of second base, and was doubled home by senior right fielder Pat Moran. Then, Michael Corrigan came to the plate and reached on a fielding error by Berks' second baseman, allowing Moran to score and giving the Nittany Lions a 3-2 lead.
 
Berks managed to re-tie the game in the top of the fifth on a fielder's choice, but Abington came back with three more runs over the final two innings to clinch the victory. In the fifth, Kerns drove in an RBI with a single, and then Ditro reached on a fielder's choice RBI, scoring Parave to make it a 5-3 ballgame. Then, in the sixth, Mark McCouch drove in Dustin Kology from second with a single to give Abington their final 6-3 scoreline. Ditro moved from shortstop to the mound with one out in the top of the sixth, and the lanky sophomore went the final inning and two-thirds, giving up just one hit and one walk to earn his first save of the season.
 
With the split, Abington moves into a tie for first place with Penn State Harrisburg, who dropped a doubleheader this afternoon against Gallaudet. Abington and Harrisburg face off at Alverthorpe Park for the resumption of a game from earlier this season that was protested by the visitors. The game will resume at 12:00 pm tomorrow, with Abington at bat in the bottom of the first inning. Make sure to come out to Alverthorpe to support your Nittany Lions in their final home game of the regular season!