READING, Pa. — The Keuka College Baseball team lost in an elimination game on Saturday morning in the North Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament to Penn St.-Abington by the score of 9-7.

Keuka College finishes the 2018 season with a 19-17 record, posting the second-most wins in program history. On Saturday, Dan Bamann (Rochester, N.Y. / Irondequoit) led the Wolves with three hits. Dakota Skinner (Waverly, N.Y. / Tioga), Brooks Vertoske (Horseheads, N.Y. / Horseheads), and Sean Sheets (Manchester, N.Y. / Red Jacket) each had a pair of hits in the game.

Penn St.-Abington 9 vs. Keuka College 7 – NEAC Tournament – Elimination Game

The Wolves threatened early on Saturday morning against the Nittany Lions as Dakota Skinner and Dan Bamann singled and moved to second on third. They would be stranded, but Penn St.-Abington would strand a runner on third as well as the game remained scoreless after one.

In the second inning, Keuka College scored four runs on five hits to take the lead. Alec Bowie (Sparta, N.J. / Sparta) led the inning off with a single and scored on a double by Sean Sheets. Jake Redding (Victor, N.Y. / Victor) followed that with an RBI single for the Wolves. Keuka College then got good situational inning as they scored two more runs on groundouts to take a 4-0 lead.

In the bottom of the frame, starting pitcher Bryan Johnsen (Otisville, N.Y. / Minisink Valley) retired Abington in order with a pair of strikeouts. Both pitchers would keep the offensive off the board for the next two innings.

Penn St.-Abington scored a pair in the bottom of the fifth, but the Wolves responded in the sixth. Sean Sheets led the inning off with a single and would score on a John Rizzo (Auburn, N.Y. / Auburn) sacrifice fly to give the Wolves a 5-2 lead. In the bottom of the inning, however, the Nittany Lions scored four runs to take their first lead of the game at 6-5.

Once again, Keuka College had an answer to the Nittany Lions scoring. With Dan Bamann on, Brooks Vertoske reached on an infield single. Anthony Mashewske (Newark, N.Y. / Newark) singled through the right side to score Bamann. Vertoske moved to third on the play. The throw attempting to get him went over the third baseman and out of play, allowing Vertoske to score and giving the Green and Gold a 7-6 lead.

Penn St.-Abington used a late rally in the eighth to take a 9-7 lead. Keuka College was able to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth following a double by Dan Bamann, but the Nittany Lions kept the Wolves off the scoreboard as they would defeat Keuka College 9-7.

KC Notes:

• Keuka College falls to 4-19 all-time against Penn St.-Abington. The Wolves have never defeated the Nittany Lions in the postseason
• The Wolves are now 10-18 in the NEAC Tournament and 3-4 in the first game of the consolation bracket
• Keuka College had 13 hits in the game. The Wolves finish the season with 365 hits, most in program history
• Dakota Skinner finishes his Keuka College career with 126 hits, tying for third most in program history
• John Rizzo totaled 125 in his four years at Keuka College, fifth best in school history