Box Score Jenkintown, Pa. – The Penn State Abington baseball squad came storming back from a four-run deficit to tie today's contest against Widener back up in the bottom of the ninth, but unfortunately the Pride pulled away in extra innings to a 6-4 victory. Five pitchers worked for the Nittany Lions and only allowed three earned runs. Tom Kreiling, A.J. Vagliani, and Diego Melendez each tallied two hits for the hosts, with Kreiling scoring a run and Vagliani tallying an RBI. However, the Pride were able to shut down the offense of the Blue and White for a good portion of the contest, and the combination of Bob Barnett and Nicholas Enos went 7-for-9 on the afternoon with four RBIs and a run to help the visitors secure the victory.
 
Widener (24-11, 13-5 MAC) took a quick lead in the contest today thanks to runs in the first and second innings. In the first, Enos lifted an RBI single into center field to give the Pride a 1-0 lead. Then in the second frame, the visitors tacked on three unearned runs, thanks to two RBI singles and a sacrifice fly after two Nittany Lions errors extended the inning. However, the Penn State Abington pitching staff promptly shut down the Widener offense over the next seven innings, with Brian Camp, Christian Thompson, and Tim Hart all combining to allow just four hits over that period. That allowed the Nittany Lions (11-17-1, 4-7 NEAC) plenty of time to put together a comeback, and the team got that rally started in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs and Tom Ditro on base, A.J. Vagliani came to the plate. Ditro promptly stole second base and then moved to third on a wild pitch. Vagliani then knocked a line drive into center field, plating Ditro and putting the Blue and White on the board. In the sixth, the Nittany Lions got another run on a single by Vagliani. The junior left fielder laced a hot shot to third base, and the Widener infielder managed knock the ball down and eventually make a throw to third. However, the throw went high, allowing Tom Kreiling to come home from second and getting Abington back by half with the score at 4-2.
 
Widener managed to stem the tide for a short period, getting all the way to the bottom of the ninth with the same lead. However, the Nittany Lions managed to put together one last rally to stay in the game. With one out and Michael Dunlap at first, Mike Scaringelli came in as a pinch hitter and hit a laser down the right field line for a double to score Dunlap. After a groundout to short put two outs on the board, Ted Smallwood came to the plate as the final hope on the afternoon. The sophomore came through in the clutch, driving a single back into center field to score Scaringelli and tie the game back up at 4-4. However, the Pride got out of the inning without any more damage, and they were then able to do some offensive work of their own. In the tenth, Enos came through with another clutch hit, a two out, two-RBI single into center to give the visitors their lead back. Penn State Abington was unable to get anything going in the bottom of the frame, and the Pride ultimately took home the 6-4 win.
 
With the loss, the Nittany Lions slip to 11-17-1 on the season, but the real test comes this weekend. Penn State Abington faces a set of four conference games at home in three days starting this Friday with a single contest against SUNYIT. The Nittany Lions will then start a three-game series over Cazenovia, the team currently at the bottom of the NEAC standings. This weekend's games are a crucial time for Penn State Abington, as the Nittany Lions look to climb their way back into position for a postseason berth. The action gets underway on Friday at 3:00 pm at Alverthorpe Park.