Baseball 5/9/2022 12:00:00 AM

Abington to Face Lancaster Bible on Day One of United East Tournament

Abington, Pa. – The second-seeded Penn State Abington baseball team will face No. 3 Lancaster Bible College this afternoon on day one of the United East Conference (UEC) Tournament. Game time is set for 3 p.m. Top-seed Penn State Harrisburg will serve as host of the three-day tournament.

How to Watch
Fans that can't make it out to Middletown, Pa. can catch all the action live with a free web stream and live stats courtesy of Penn State Harrisburg. To access the live coverage, click here.

About Penn State Abington (31-9, 17-4 UEC)
The Nittany Lions enter the postseason after a very successful regular season that saw the team win 31 games; the most in the program's Division III era. Abington is also on a season-long 13-game winning streak, the longest since the 2018 team won 13 straight games as well.

Abington is led by United East Player of the Year Ryan McCarty who is having a season for the ages. McCarty leads all of Division III in a number of offensive categories, including batting average (.552), runs (85), hits (95), RBI (85), doubles (26), home runs (27), total bases (208) and slugging percentage (1.209). McCarty was one of six players to earn All-UEC honors this year. Freshman Chase Swain was named the United East Freshman of the Year and selected to the All-UEC first team. Swain is batting .412 with 77 hits which is fourth most in D-III. He's also scored 70 times and has totaled 42 RBI. Sophomore Tim Petrucelli also earned All-UEC first team honors. In his first year with the team, Petrucelli is batting .331 with 59 runs and 38 RBI. His 49 walks are most in Division III this season.

Senior Jaden Himmelreich earned All-UEC honors for the third straight time with second team recognition. He received second team honors in 2019 and first team honors in 2021. Himmelreich finished the regular season with a 6-2 record, including 4-1 against conference opponents. Fellow senior Zach Morales also picked up All-UEC honors for the second straight season. Morales is batting .364 through the regular season and set career-highs in runs (35), hits (47), doubles (11), home runs (9), RBI (61) and slugging percentage (.659). His 61 RBI are sixth-most in D-III. Senior Gregg Sywulak received All-UEC second team honors for the first time in his career. In eight appearances, including three starts, Sywulak has pitched in 20.1 innings and is 2-0 on the year.

Furthermore, first-year head coach David Miller was named the United East Coach of the Year. The Nittany Lions are the highest scoring team in the nation this year scoring 508 runs in 40 games. The team also leads Division III in hits (536), slugging percentage (.623) and on-base percentage (.479).

About Lancaster Bible (18-19, 13-8 UEC)
The Chargers secured the third seed in the tournament after completing a three-game series sweep at Wells College to close out the regular season. Lancaster Bible is led by All-UEC first team selections in Blake Greenly and Brian Coburn. Greenly enters the tournament batting .439, which ranks second in the United East. Coburn leads the team in RBI (35) and finished the regular season with a .371 batting average. The Chargers also feature All-UEC second team selection, Jaden Pinkney, who's batting .375 with 54 hits to go along with 17 doubles.

Abington in the Postseason
The Nittany Lions will be making their 10^th appearance in the United East (formerly the NEAC) Tournament and sixth straight with the exception of 2020 when the tournament was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Abington is 12-16 in the postseason and won the NEAC Title in 2019. The Nittany Lions also appeared in last year's championship game.

All-Time Series vs. Lancaster Bible
Abington is 19-5 versus the Chargers in the all-time series which dates back to the 2011 season. The Nittany Lions have won six straight games in the series, including a three-game sweep this season at Alverthorpe Park.

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Players Mentioned

#2 Jaden Himmelreich: INF; 5' 9"; Senior; S/R

#22 Ryan McCarty: IF/P; 5' 10"; Senior; R/R

#28 Zach Morales: IF; 6' 1"; Senior; R/R

#8 Gregg Sywulak: OF; 6' 2"; Senior; R/R

#23 Tim Petrucelli: OF; 6' 0"; Sophomore; L/R

#27 Chase Swain: IF; 6' 0"; Freshman; R/R

Players Mentioned

#2 Jaden Himmelreich
: 5' 9"; Senior; S/R
: INF

#22 Ryan McCarty
: 5' 10"; Senior; R/R
: IF/P

#28 Zach Morales
: 6' 1"; Senior; R/R
: IF

#8 Gregg Sywulak
: 6' 2"; Senior; R/R
: OF

#23 Tim Petrucelli
: 6' 0"; Sophomore; L/R
: OF

#27 Chase Swain
: 6' 0"; Freshman; R/R
: IF