UTICA, N.Y. – Senior pitcher Dakota Aker (Schenectady, N.Y.) put the finishing touches on a Castleton State College’s two-game sweep of Penn State-Berks in the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Baseball Championship, tossing a complete-game four-hitter as the Spartans won 2-0 to clinch a berth in the upcoming NCAA Division III National Tournament.

Aker struck out six and did not walk a batter en route to the shutout win, and shared championship Most Valuable Player honors with Tyler Erickson (Naugatuck, Conn.) who earned a shutout win in game one.

The Spartans improved to 33-14 on the season, while the pitching staff upped its streak of scoreless innings to 27 and has not allowed an earned run in 36-straight frames.

Aker worked himself out of trouble in the first and second innings as the Nittany Lions put two on base in each frame to start things off, but the senior righthander was able to come up with an out when he needed it, stranding all four runners.

Castleton broke through for a run in the third as Adam Greenlese (Shokan, N.Y.) doubled to lead off the inning and was sacrificed to third by Mat Pause (Wilder, Vt.). A David Brandt (Contoocook, N.H.) ground out to second brought Greenlese in through the back door, giving Aker all the runs he needed.

Aaron Wilkins (Boyertown, Pa.) singled with two outs in the fifth to break up a string of nine-straight retired by Aker, but once again Aker stranded the runner inducing a flyout to escape trouble. With one out in the seventh Ryan Tantala (Downingtown, Pa.) doubled to right center, but Aker answered with a strikeout and a lineout to leave him in scoring position.

The Spartans tacked on an insurance run in the eighth as Pete Wagner (Brattleboro, Vt.) singled home Joe Borowski (Schenectady, N.Y.) who had been hit by a pitch earlier in the inning.

Kevin Heilman (Easton, Pa.) took the loss for Berks, tossing eight innings and allowing two earned runs on six hits and two walks while striking out two.

Greenlese finished 2-for-3 to lead the Spartan offense.