Box Score Westminster, Md. - Penn State Abington took the field one more time this afternoon for the start of the ECAC South Tournament. The Nittany Lions faced off against McDaniel College in the semifinal round of the tournament, a rematch of last year's Abington victory in the very same game. This time, unfortunately, it was a different result for the Blue and White, with the Green Terror winning an offense-dominated 14-9 game. The Nittany Lions took early 2-0 and 4-1 leads, but couldn't keep up with the bats of McDaniel. Four different pitchers threw for Abington, while Bill Parave led the hitters with three RBIs.
 
Dan Hill got the start on the mound for the Nittany Lions (22-22, 11-3 NEAC), and got off to a solid start in the opening few innings. He allowed four hits over the opening three innings, but used a solid defense behind him and three strikeouts to strand all four baserunners and keep McDaniel off the board. This allowed Penn State Abington to get out to a lead when they struck first in the top of the third inning. Michael Corrigan led the inning off with a single, and moved to third on a pair of groundouts. Mark McCouch came to the plate next and brought Corrigan home with a single to right center, giving the visitors the 1-0 lead. They added three more runs over the next two innings, around a lone run from McDaniel, via an RBI single from Pat Moran and a mammoth home run from Bill Parave to give Abington a 4-1 lead.
 
It was the last time the Nittany Lions would hold the top spot on the scoreboard, however. McDaniel (22-15) opened the floodgates over the next four innings, starting with a five-run fifth. The big hit in that frame was an RBI triple that tied the game up before two more runs scored to make it a 6-4 McDaniel lead. In the top of the sixth, Abington managed to scratch one run back on an RBI groundout from A.J. Vagliani. McDaniel came back in the bottom of the inning for three more runs, though, with the key hit this time being another triple that made the score 9-5 through six innings.
 
With both sides into their bullpens at this point, Abington fired back in the top of the seventh inning. Mike Kerns knocked in one run in the inning with a deep double into right center. Then, a fielding error on a Dan Hill grounder scored Kerns all the way from second to make it a 7-9 deficit. But just as they had the previous few innings, McDaniel continued to pull away everytime Abington got close. In the bottom of the seventh, a three-run homer from Pat Christopher made it a 12-7 game. Then, after Abington was held to the first half-inning without any scoring since the bottom of the third, the Green Terror added two more runs in the eighth on a two-RBI double.
 
By the time Penn State Abington reached their last at-bats in the top of the ninth, they were staring down the barrel at a 14-7 deficit. With their postseason on the line, the Nittany Lions worked to put together some scoring, and indeed managed to get a few runs across the plate. With runners on the corners, Ted Smallwood reached on a fielder's choice and a throwing error on the play made everyone else safe as well and made it an 8-14 game. Later in the inning, Parave added another RBI with a single through the left side. However, it was simply not enough to catch up to the Green Terror, and a strikeout finally ended game and closed the book on Penn State Abington's fantastic season.
 
The semifinal was certainly not a pretty affair for the pitchers. In all, 23 runs scored on 35 hits and six errors. Parave, Moran, Corrigan, McCouch, Dustin Kology, and Mike Kerns all had multi-hit games for the Nittany Lions. Penn State Abington closes the season with an even 22-22 record.