ABINGTON, Pa. – ABINGTON, Pa. – The Penn State Abington softball team dropped a pair of games in a non-conference doubleheader against Franklin & Marshall on Tuesday afternoon. F&M pitchers Kaitlin Zampino and Justine Lohrey limited Penn State Abington to just nine hits on the day, winning the first game, 13-1, before sweeping the second, 17-3, both in five innings. Abington's record dipped to 10-6 overall, while the Diplomats improved to 11-15 on the year.
 
In game one, the Diplomats got on the scoreboard first with a run in the bottom of the first inning and added three more runs in the second to lead 4-0. Abington scored the solo run on a RBI double to right center by sophomore Michaela Drogalis to post a Nittany Lion run on the board.
 
F&M went on to score three more runs in the third inning on two hits and two errors by Abington before lighting up the scoreboard with a six-run fifth inning to push the game out of reach, forcing the mercy rule finish and the 13-1 final score.
 
Offensively, Abington had three hits in the game and was led by Drogalis, who finished 2-for-2 at the plate with an RBI. Junior catcher Sheila O'Hagan also added the run scored and went 1-for-2 at the plate.
 
On the mound, Drogalis pitched four innings, but recorded the loss, allowing seven runs on 11 hits. O'Hagan filled in for relief for a full inning, allowing six runs on three hits and struck out a Diplomat batter.
 
In the nightcap, the Diplomats again struck early. This time with four runs in the bottom of the first inning to grab the early lead before F&M scored nine runs on seven hits and three errors to extend the lead to 13-0.
 
While it may seem that the game is just about over, the Nittany Lions refused to give up without putting some effort into scoring some runs. In the bottom of the third, Abington's bats came to life as freshman Ashley Quenzer got on base on a fielders choice, before senior shortstop Mariellen Medernach singled through the shortstop to advance Quenzer to second. O'Hagan then followed suit with a single through the right side to load up the bases. Nicole Battaglio put the ball into play and safely reached on base on an error by F&M second baseman to round Medernach and Quenzer home unearned. On the next batting order, junior Sam Kidd then singled to bring O'Hagan safely home, cutting the deficit to 13-3 on four hits and one error by F&M.
 
Both teams scored runs in the fourth with Abington crossing the plate twice on a RBI single by O'Hagan. The Dipolmats would go on to score four more runs to end the game in five innings with a 17-5 win.
 
Abington had another strong showing at the plate with six hits, led by O'Hagan who went 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored. Three other Nittany Lions posted a base hit in the game.
 
O'Hagan pitched all five innings, allowing 17 runs on 15 hits and walked four batters for the loss.
 
The Nittany Lions hope to rebound from the loss when it returns to action tomorrow in a doubleheader matchup against the Knights of Arcadia University. The first game is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.