Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Abington, Pa. - The Nittany Lions softball squad split a doubleheader earlier this afternoon against their visiting rivals Penn State Harrisburg. Penn State Abington came from behind to earn a thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 victory in game one before falling to the opposing Nittany Lions by a score of 8-4 in game two. Michaela Drogalis pitched both games for the Blue and White, while Sam Kidd had a great day at the plate, going three-for-five with four RBIs.
 
Game one opened with Harrisburg (4-16, 1-5 NEAC) jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. In fact, it was Harrisburg's starting pitcher Gabrielle Wolfe who helped her own cause by smashing a leadoff fly ball into deep center field. Abington outfielder Cara Fiala got a great jump on the ball over her head and raced back to make a last-ditch effort for the catch. However, the ball glanced just off the glove and carried another few feet over the outfield fence for a leadoff homer and early 1-0 lead for Harrisburg.
 
Penn State Abington (10-4, 4-1 NEAC) came back to tie the game up in the bottom of the second inning. Trish Watson got things started with a single to center field. Then, with one out, Nicole Battaglio laced another single into center, advancing Watson to second. Kidd came up next, and she blasted a double into left center, scoring Watson for her first RBI of the day and tying the game at 1-1. However, Wolfe got out of the jam by striking out the next two Abington batters to keep the contest deadlocked.
 
Harrisburg battled back in the top of the fifth, once again plating a single run to retake the lead. The inning started with a runner reaching on an infield error, followed up by a single to center field. A flyout moved the runners up to second and third, setting the table for sophomore Alli Trutt. With the infield back, the Harrisburg right fielder grounded out to short, driving in the run and giving the visitors a 2-1 lead.
 
Once again, Abington battled back to retie the game. This time, it was in the very next inning. Another infield error allowed the first batter of the inning to reach, this time being Cara Fiala. A sacrifice bunt moved Fiala up to second base. After a groundout gave Abington two outs in the inning, it was Sheila O'Hagan coming through with yet another clutch RBI. The junior catcher sent a line drive single into center field to score Fiala and knot the game back up at 2-2.
 
Finally in the bottom of the sixth, Penn State Abington jumped into the lead for the first time, and the RBI once again came off the bat of Sam Kidd. This time, a leadoff walk by Michaela Drogalis put the lead run on, and Battaglio dropped a perfect sacrifice bunt down to move her up to second. Then it was Kidd's turn, and she singled right back up the middle to plate what would be the game-winning run. Harrisburg came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but Drogalis retired the visitors in order to close out her tenth win of the season.
 
In the 8-4 game two loss, an interesting trend from Abington's games this season reared it's head yet again. In six out of the nine Nittany Lions' games this season where both teams have scored at least one run, the team that scored first has ultimately gone on to lose the game, including both of today's contests. This time, it was Abington getting out to the early lead, scoring three runs in the bottom of the second inning. A walk from Watson and a double from Drogalis put runners on second and third with one out, when Sam Kidd came to the plate. Yet again, the veteran second baseman came through in the clutch, powering a single into left field for two more RBIs. Later on in the inning, Alyssa Virginio came up with two outs and runners on first and third, and the freshman shortstop added an RBI single of her own to make the score 3-0 in favor of Abington.
 
Harrisburg came back to tie the game immediately in the top of the third, using an RBI double, sacrifice fly, and an RBI single to make the score three all. Then, the visitors took the lead in the top of the fifth with a fielder's choice RBI to third with the bases loaded. Drogalis came to bat with the bases empty and one out in the bottom of the sixth, and really helped out her own cause with a long home run over the left center field wall. The roundtripper was the second of the season for the star pitcher, and tied the game at 4-4. Unfortunately, this was as close as the Nittany Lions would get for the rest of the day. In the top of the seventh, Harrisburg plated four runs to jump back in front by an 8-4 margin, and Abington could not come up with anything in the bottom of the frame to end the game.
 
With the split, Abington moves to 10-4 on the season. The Nittany Lions will have a day off on Monday before resuming action Tuesday at home against Franklin & Marshall. Game one is set to start at 5:00 pm.