Box Score Jenkintown, Pa. – The Penn State Abington baseball squad took home a solid win in their home opener earlier this afternoon, running out to an early 4-0 lead before holding off a late charge to defeat SUNY Canton by a score of 6-2. Freshman Tom Kreiling took home the win, pitching all the way into the ninth inning before senior Kevin Faber closed out the game. On the offensive side, four different Abington batters tallied RBIs, led by freshman third baseman Diego Melendez, who went four-for-four in the game, including a double, two runs, and an RBI.
 
The Nittany Lions (3-6, 0-0 NEAC) scored runs in each of their first three innings at bat. In the first, Fran Caruso reached first base on an error. He then stole second, and moved up to third when Tom Ditro singled behind him. Then, during the next at-bat, Ditro stole second, and the throw went wildly into center field, allowing Caruso to score from third and giving Penn State Abington an easy 1-0 lead. In the second inning, Melendez and Ted Smallwood both notched singles, putting runners on the corners for Callan Palmer. He earned an RBI with a groundout to second base, making the score 2-0 after two innings. Then, in the third, the Nittany Lions once again got runners on first and third, this time for A.J. Vagliani. The senior right fielder earned an RBI of his own with another groundout, and then Melendez got his own RBI with a double blasted into deep center. After three innings, Penn State Abington held a 4-0 lead. Meanwhile, Kreiling was pitching a very solid game on the bump for the Blue and White. The freshman allowed just eight hits on the afternoon while striking out four batters. He allowed SUNY Canton (6-6) to score one run in the fourth, then pitched a very clean game from that point on. He did get some major help from his own defense in the top of the seventh inning, however. The Kangaroos opened the inning with back-to-back singles, and were looking to chip away at their deficit with a big hit in the next at bat. Instead, the SUNY Canton batter hit one of the softest line drives possible in the game of baseball, and it went directly to Kreiling on the mound. The runners stayed on their bags and the batter headed almost immediately back to the dugout, thinking Kreiling would make the easy catch. However, the ball spun out of the freshman pitcher's glove, allowing him to start an incredibly easy, and rare, 1-5-6-3 triple play and get out of the inning unscathed.
 
Penn State Abington tacked on tacked on two more insurance runs to make it a 6-1 game, and that came in handy in the ninth inning. After a solid eight innings, Kreiling may have been a little worn out, as he gave up a leadoff home run to Braden Giffin to open up the inning and make it a 6-2 game. Then, he loaded the bases on a walk, single, and hit batsman. After a truly great effort, Kreiling made way for Faber out of the bullpen, and the veteran reliever worked his magic, getting a soft popup, a strikeout on a beautiful curveball, and an easy groundout to second to get out of the jam and save the 6-2 victory for Penn State Abington. The Nittany Lions move to 3-6 with the win, and they'll look to continue their winning ways when they continue their series with the 'Roos tomorrow afternoon in a doubleheader starting at 12:00 pm. Be sure to check in at abingtonsports.com for live stats during the games and all your other updates on Nittany Lions athletics!