Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Abington, Pa. – Both Penn State Abington and Lancaster Bible came into today's doubleheader sitting at two wins in the NEAC conference and needing some victories to get back into postseason contention. Fortunately for the home fans, the Nittany Lions were the team that took that motivation and ran with it, as the Blue and White came from behind in game one for a 4-3 walk-off victory before posting a 6-0 shutout win in game two. Tyler Freeman and Tom Ditro did a good bit of the damage offensively for the Nittany Lions, going 6-for-14 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Kevin Faber earned the victory in relief in game one, while Ditro pitched a shutout victory in game two, going the distance and striking out eight batters in the process.
 
Lancaster Bible (7-14, 2-8 NEAC) jumped out to a quick lead in game two, thanks to a run in the second inning. The leadoff batter got on thanks to a hit-by-pitch, and he then moved up on a sacrifice bunt. Another groundout and a single scored the run, and put the Chargers in front 1-0. They would extend this lead in the top of the fourth thanks to another RBI single and a bases loaded walk, giving them a three-run lead. However, Penn State Abington managed to cut into that deficit in the bottom of the frame. A leadoff walk and a single put runners on first and second for A.J. Vagliani. He laid down a bunt towards third in an attempt to sacrifice and move the runners up a base, and charged down towards first base to try and beat out the throw. In his rush, the third baseman threw the ball wildly over the head of the first baseman, allowing the lead runner to go all the way home and moving the other two up another bag. After a strikeout, Michael Dunlap lifted a fly ball deep into left field, allowing the next runner to score and making it a 3-2 game. It would stay that way all the way into the seventh, in part thanks to a solid relief effort by Faber. The lanky senior came out of the 'pen to pitch two and two-thirds innings, striking out three and scattering three hits while allowing no runs. Facing their last at-bats of the game, the Nittany Lions offense came to life. Tom Ditro led off the inning with a single to left, and then moved up to second on a wild pitch. Tyler Freeman came to the plate and blasted a double into left field, scoring Ditro and knotting the game at 3-3. Mike Scaringelli was then hit by a pitch, and that led the Chargers to bring on a new pitcher themselves. Vagliani came to the plate next, and he executed another perfect sacrifice bunt, moving the game winning run up to third. Fran Caruso came in to pinch-hit next, and he came through with the game-winning hit, a single up the middle to score Freeman and hand the Blue and White the game one victory.
 
Game two turned out to be a much different story for Penn State Abington. The hosts jumped on the Chargers right from the get-go, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first thanks to a throwing error with two outs to score Ted Smallwood. The Nittany Lions got another run in the bottom of the second when Vince DiPiero rocked a two-out double down the left field line to score Michael Dunlap. The big inning came in the fourth, when the Blue and White tacked on three more runs thanks to an RBI single by Tom Kreiling and a two-RBI single by Ditro. Another insurance run came in in the bottom of the sixth on yet another hit by Ditro. However, the story of the game was the solid pitching of the junior from Philadelphia. Ditro threw a complete game shutout on the day, fooling the Chargers batters with a strong mix of pitches. Lancaster Bible managed just six hits all game, while Ditro was the definition of pinpoint control, striking out eight opposing batters while walking none. The Chargers had their best chance to score in the top of the seventh when the first two batters reached base, but Ditro buckled down to get the next three batters out, closing out the game by inducing a weak fly out to center field.
 
With the sweep, the Nittany Lions move to 10-15-1 overall on the year, but more importantly, they pick up two crucial victories in the North Eastern Athletic Conference. They now sit at 4-7 in conference play, just a game back in the win column of both Keuka and SUNYIT, who hold the final qualifying spots for postseason play. With Penn State Abington now right back in the picture as far as the NEAC goes, the squad now gets a day off before playing a non-conference doubleheader on Saturday against John Jay. The games will take place at Alverthorpe Park, with first pitch of game one slated to take place at 12:00 pm.