Baseball 5/15/2026 12:00:00 AM

Incollingo Named United East Player of the Year; Eight Earn All-Conference Honors

Click for Complete United East All-Conference and Major Awards Release

Latham, N.Y. – Penn State Abington junior Donato Incollingo was named the 2026 United East Conference (UEC) Player of the Year as announced by the conference office and voted upon by the head coaches. Incollingo is the third Abington player in the last five years to be named the conference's top player and fifth overall since joining the United East (formerly NEAC). Incollingo was also selected to the All-United East first team for the first time in his career.

In addition, seven other players joined Incollingo on the All-United East teams. Senior Zach Bauers and juniors Akira Nakamura and Jack Wright were selected to the first team, while seniors Benjamin Gagnon and Nick Benson were named to the second team. Freshmen John Busco and Jaxon Horvath round out the all-conference selections with third team recognition.

The eight all-conference honorees are the most ever selected by Abington. The previous high was six in 2022, 2021 and 2013.

Incollingo had a career year as he finished with a .399 batting average, including 63 hits, 17 doubles, one triple, 17 home runs, 50 runs scored and 63 RBI setting career-highs in all categories. His 17 home runs currently rank second most in all of Division III. Only Claremont's Alex Henderson and Messiah's Isaiah Parido have hit more with 18 homers each.

Incollingo was named the United East Player of the Week twice during the course of the season and recorded 22 multi-hit games. He also had a season-long 15-game hitting streak that stretched from March 14 through April 10.

In addition, Incollingo reached three significant milestones this season. He recorded his 100^th career hit, RBI and run scored. He'll enter his senior season ranked third all-time with 131 RBI and ninth in runs. Incollingo is second with 30 career home runs; 12 shy of the all-time mark set by former D-III Player of the Year Ryan McCarty who hit 42 homers in his career.

Bauers is earning All-United East honors for the third time in his career and first team recognition for the first time after previously being named to the second team in 2024 and 2025 while at Cairn University. In his first and only season in an Abington uniform, Bauers batted .360 to go along with 49 hits, 11 doubles, one triple and three home runs. He scored 43 runs and drove in another 35.

Bauers hit safely in his first eight games played and recorded 12 multi-hit games. He had a season-high four hits twice, ironically enough both times were against Delaware Valley University. In the game at Delaware Valley, Bauers went 4-for-5 with two runs and two RBI. Two weeks later in the home game against the Aggies, Bauers finished 4-for-5 again with one run and three RBI. Combined, Bauers batted 8-for-10 against DelVal with three runs and five RBI.

Nakamura is earning All-United East first team honors in his first season with the Nittany Lions. He finished the season with the third highest batting average in the United East at .432. Nakamura tallied a team-best 70 hits and 52 runs to go along with 13 doubles, two triples, two home homes and 55 RBI.

Nakamura recorded the second longest hitting streak on the team this season at 13 games stretching from April 11 through May 8. He also tied Incollingo for most multi-hit games with 22. Nakamura recorded three hits in a game 10 times and had a season-high four hits in game one of a double-header against Cairn.

Nakamura highlighted the season with a 6-for-11 performance in the second round of the United East Tournament. In the two games, he connected on his first and second home runs of the season and finished with five runs and six RBI.

Wright is earning All-United East honors for the first time in his career with first team recognition. The transfer from Cairn finished the season tied for the team lead in wins with five as he made 15 appearances and four starts.

Wright struck out 41 batters in 54.1 innings while posting a 4.47 earned run average. He recorded a season-high seven strikeouts in an eight-inning relief appearance against Wilson College. Wright recorded three wins in his last four appearances of the season, including a victory over top-seed Keystone College which eliminated the Giants from the conference tournament. Wright struck out six batters in that game and limited Keystone to just two hits in six innings of work.

Gagnon is earning All-United East honors for the first time in his career with second team distinction. The Cairn transfer batted .385 in his first and only season with the Nittany Lions. Gagnon recorded 47 hits to go along with 36 runs and 28 RBI. He led the team with eight sacrifice hits and was 9-of-10 on stolen base attempts.

Gagnon had a season-best day in game one of a doubleheader against Cairn in which he went 4-for-4 with five RBI. He finished the season strong hitting safely in the final five games going 8-for-21 with six runs scored. Defensively, Gagnon committed just two errors in left field while posting .959 fielding percentage.

Benson capped his playing career earning All-United East honors for the first time in his career. A transfer from Cairn, Benson made an immediate impact in the Nittany Lions' rotation. He started a team-high 12 games and appeared in 14 as he registered 52.0 innings of work this season.

Benson finished the season with 67 strikeouts which currently ranks third in the conference this season. His 67 K's are also tied for third most in the program record book with Daniel Hill who struck out 67 back in 2010. Benson struck out a season-high 10 batters three times during the season with each outing resulting in victory.

Busco started 43 games in right field for the Nittany Lions in his first year of collegiate action. He finished with .320 average to go along with 48 hits, 11 doubles, two triples, and 11 home runs. Busco also scored 53 times and drove in 56 RBI. His 11 home runs set the new single season rookie record breaking the previous mark of nine set by Chase Swain in 2022.

Busco drove in a season-high five runs twice with the first coming down in Florida during the RussMatt Invitational. He recorded his first career multi-home run game against Greenville while recording five RBI. Later in the season he scored five runs in game one of a doubleheader against St. Mary's College (Md.); one shy of the program's single game record.

Horvath also had an impressive rookie campaign for the Nittany Lions. He finished the season batting .348 to go along with 46 hits, including eight doubles. Horvath scored 33 runs and also drove in another 33. Horvath recorded the team's third longest hitting streak of the season as he hit safely in 11 straight games from March 24 to April 10. His streak started with a 3-for-4 performance against Neumann University in which he also drove in a season-high five runs.

Abington finished the season with a 32-13 record marking the second most victories in a single season in program history. The 2022 team went 33-11 for the program's first 30-win season. The Nittany Lions also earned the third seed in this year's conference tournament after finishing 12-4 in the United East. It marked the 14th appearance and 10th straight in the postseason.

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Players Mentioned

#27 Donato Incollingo: OF; 6' 3"; Junior; R/R

#12 Benjamin Gagnon: Utl.; 6' 3"; Senior; R/R

#24 Zach Bauers: C; 6' 0"; Senior; R/R

#25 John Busco: OF; 6' 4"; Freshman; R/R

#28 Jack Wright: P; 6' 0"; Junior; R/R

#31 Jaxon Horvath: 3B; 6' 0"; Freshman; R/R

#37 Akira Nakamura: Utl.; 5' 9"; Junior; R/R

#40 Nick Benson: P; 6' 2"; Senior; L/L

Players Mentioned

#27 Donato Incollingo
: 6' 3"; Junior; R/R
: OF

#12 Benjamin Gagnon
: 6' 3"; Senior; R/R
: Utl.

#24 Zach Bauers
: 6' 0"; Senior; R/R
: C

#25 John Busco
: 6' 4"; Freshman; R/R
: OF

#28 Jack Wright
: 6' 0"; Junior; R/R
: P

#31 Jaxon Horvath
: 6' 0"; Freshman; R/R
: 3B

#37 Akira Nakamura
: 5' 9"; Junior; R/R
: Utl.

#40 Nick Benson
: 6' 2"; Senior; L/L
: P