Middletown, Pa. – The Penn State Abington baseball team held on to defeat second-seeded Penn College by the score of 16-14 on Thursday afternoon on day one of the United East Conference (UEC) Tournament.  The third-seeded Nittany Lions will now face top-seed and host Penn State Harrisburg in the winner's bracket on Friday.  First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m.
 
Score: Penn State Abington 16, Penn College 14
WP: Owen Lynch (2-3) | LP: Justin Porter (2-4) | S: Greg Wiley (1)
Records: Penn State Abington (19-19) | Penn College (20-19)
Location: Middletown, Pa. (Harrisburg Baseball Field)
 
How It Happened
 
* Trailing 7-6 in the top half of the sixth, senior Zach Morales came through in the clutch as he cleared the bases with his 12^th home run of the season.  Junior Eric Rollins led the inning off with a base hit and two batters later junior Tim Petrucelli reached on an infield hit.  Both Rollins and Petrucelli advanced a base after a throwing error by the Penn College second baseman.  The Wildcats opted to intentionally walk the United East Player of the Year, Justin Fogel, and face Morales instead.  Morales made the Wildcats pay for that decision as launched a shot down the left field line to give Abington a 10-7 lead.
 
* The Nittany Lions increased their lead to 11-7 in the seventh when Petrucelli drew a bases loaded walk to score sophomore Steve Corrado.  Two batters later Morales came to the plate with the bases loaded once more and nearly had his second grand slam of the day, but center fielder Jake Wagner leaped and robbed Morales of another four-bagger.
 
* In the ninth, Abington added some insurance runs as the Nittany Lions plated five runs in the inning to increase their lead to 16-8.  Four different players drove in runs in the inning including senior Josh Baar who connected on a two-run double.
 
* Penn College made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth.  Down eight runs the Wildcats cut the deficit down to 16-14 after a three-run homer by Tyler Rudolph.  However, sophomore Greg Wiley entered in relief and retired the final batter to register the save.
 
* The Wildcats scored the game's first run with a bases loaded walk in the first inning to take the early lead.  Abington responded in the top of the second when senior Montana Milward launched a solo home run over the left field fence.  The Nittany Lions grabbed their first lead of the game an inning later when Fogel led off the third with a solo home run to left-center field.
 
* Abington scored four runs in the fourth to build a 6-1 advantage.  Rollins, Doherty and Petrucelli had back-to-back-to-back run scoring hits in the inning.  Morales capped the scoring in the inning with a sacrifice fly that scored Doherty.
 
* The Wildcats responded with five runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 6-6.  Tristian Current highlighted the inning with a three-run homer.  Penn College grabbed the lead in the fifth scoring on a fielder's choice. 
 
Inside the Box Score
 
*  Morales finished the game 1-for-4 with a run and a game-high five RBI.  His sixth inning grand slam marked his 25^th home run of his career and 12^th of the season.
 
* Fogel went 3-for-5 at the plate as he extended his season-long hitting streak to 24 straight games. His third inning homer marked his 25^th career home run and 15^th of the season.  His two RBI also marked a milestone as he drove in career runs 100 and 101.  He is the fifth player in program history to reach the 100 RBI milestone.
 
* Rollins tallied a career-high four hits as he went 4-for-5 at the plate with two runs and an RBI. 
 
* Petrucelli finished 3-for-4 with two runs, two RBI and two walks.  He is now one hit shy of 100 for his career.
 
* Corrado also had three hits as he went 3-for-5 with two runs.
 
* Doherty finished 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. 
 
* For Penn College, Quinn Hanafin went 3-for-5 with two runs and three RBI, while Current went 2-for-5 with two runs and three RBI.  Rudolph finished 2-for-5 with two runs and three RBI.
 
All-Time Series
Today marked the 26^th meeting between Abington and Penn College since the start of the 2015 season.  The Nittany Lions are now 17-9 versus the Wildcats in the all-time series.
 
Next Up
Abington will face Harrisburg on Friday in the winner's bracket with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m.  The winner will advance to the championship game on Saturday, while the loser will face the winner of the Lancaster Bible College/Penn College match up in an elimination game at 3 p.m.