Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 JENKINTOWN, Pa. – The Penn State Abington baseball team remained hot on the heels for the fourth and final seed of the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) playoff spot after winning the first contest 8-6 before senior pitcher Kevin Faber got the Nittany Lions out of a jam in the closing inning for the 3-2 tight victory over the visiting Wildcats of Cazenovia College Saturday afternoon.
 
Freshman Jason Roselli led the Nittany Lions on the day after going 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs and a run, while teammate pitcher Tom Kreiling produced an RBI after going 4-for-6 and fighting his way through after a sluggish start on the mound in the first game before coming back to earn his second win of the year.
 
In the first contest, Kreiling got off to a rough start in the first inning, hitting four batters and walked two to give Cazenovia an early 3-0 lead before finding his grove and closing out the inning with a ground out towards second.
 
Despite the 3-0 deficit, the Nittany Lions backed up their starting pitcher in the field before stepping up at the plate in the bottom frame of the second, scoring four runs on five hits and an error to take the 4-3 lead from the Wildcats. After senior outfielder AJ Vagliani singled out to left center and stole second, freshman Michael Dunlap then singled towards the same spot, moving Vagliani into scoring position at third as Roselli successfully pulled off a sacrifice fly out to right field to score Vagliani home and moving Dunlap up to second. Sophomore infielder Callan Palmer followed the same pattern, this time singling out to left center, bringing Dunlap safely home as he rolled overtop the Wildcat catcher before touching the plate to beat the tag. Palmer then tallied the Blue and White's third and tying run on a balk from Cazenovia's pitcher. Kreiling then stepped up to the plate and singled through the left side as Ted Smallwood rounded home on the play for the 4-3 score.
 
Abington went onto to score three more runs in the fourth and fifth, twice on a pair of errors, before Cazenovia rallied back late in the sixth inning, scoring three runs on three hits to cut the Blue and White's 7-6 to just one run. The Nittany Lions would then an insurance run in the bottom frame on a bases-loaded walk before senior pitcher Brian Camp stepped in for relief and closed out the next inning for the save and the Nittany Lions' 8-6 win.
 
The nightcap was all about the pitchers as Kevin Faber pitched a complete game as he fanned seven Wildcats and allowed just two runs on nine hits in the seven innings pitched.
 
Abington got on the scoreboard in the first frame on a pair of bunts before Smallwood reached safely home on a Jason Scaringelli ground out for the 1-0 lead. Cazenovia then responded with a pair of runs in the next two innings for the 2-1 lead before the Nittany Lions managed to get into scoring positions in the bottom of the fourth as junior Fran Caruso tied up the ballgame on a ground out before Vagliani scored the go-ahead run off of Roselli's single to give the Blue and White the 3-2 lead.
 
Faber then stepped up his game, baffling the Wildcat batters with groundouts and fly outs before getting himself out of a jam in the final two innings. Cazenovia managed to load up the bases in the top of the sixth on two outs before Faber closed out the inning with a fly out towards center field to leave three on the bases. Cazenovia looked to tie up the game in the seventh frame with the runners on second and third but Faber would remain in control as he struck out the final two batters to hold onto the win as the Nittany Lions escaped with a 3-2 victory as the Blue and White picked up their fifth straight conference victory.
 
The Nittany Lions now sit at 14-17-1 on the season and 7-7 in the NEAC. They'll get a chance to take another step forward in the conference when they hit the diamond tomorrow for the rubber match against Cazenovia. Prior to the 12:00 p.m. pitch, three Penn State Abington seniors from the baseball squad will be recognized for their successful career as a Nittany Lion.