Penn State Berks athletics photo

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Penn State Berks baseball team reeled off 12 unanswered runs en route to downing SUNY Institute of Technology 13-6 to win the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Championship on Sunday afternoon at Hoy Field. (Photo Gallery)

The Nittany Lions will now receive an automatic berth into the NCAA Regional Tournament, which is just the second appearance in program history.

Kyle Hartman, who kept the Nittany Lions alive by picking up the win earlier today, was named the tournament Most Valuable Player. Hartman also earned the win on the mound in the 7-0 victory over Keuka College in the first round. He finished the tournament 2-0 with two unearned runs allowed and just 11 hits in 15.0 innings of work.

The Nittany Lions trailed in their three previous games of the tournament and this final game was no different. After falling behind 1-0, the Wildcats jumped out to a 6-1 lead after their at-bats in the top of the sixth.

At this point, it looked like the fatigue of playing extra-inning games the past two days and a total 47 innings up until this point. But the Nittany Lions will able get the offense going and put up a six-spot in both the sixth and seventh innings.

Connor Corson, Luke Erb, and Phil Anderson each pushed across a run in the sixth after getting hit by a pitch with bases loaded. Troy Salerno singled home Corson to record the only RBI that came from a hit in the inning. A walk to Nick Zipay tied the game at 6-all and Keeanu Erb put Berks ahead when his groundout to the pitcher scored Anderson.

John Bonino gave the Nittany Lions the shutdown inning they needed by tossing a 1-2-3 frame in the seventh.

The Nittany Lions scored all six of their runs in the bottom of the seventh with two outs. Salerno drove in two runs with a single down the left field line. Two batters later Erb walked with bases loaded and during the Tom Grablewski's at-bat a wild pitch scored Salerno. Grablewski then singled through the left side to score Zipay and Erb.

Bonino gave up a leadoff single in the eighth before setting down the next three batters. In the ninth inning, Bonino sealed the victory by striking out the final batter looking and sending the Nittany Lions and their fans into a frenzy. The junior left-hander evened his record to 1-1 after 3.2 innings of two hit, scoreless relief.

Salerno had two hits and a season-high three runs scored, while Erb was 2-for-4 with two RBI, three runs scored, and a stolen base. Grablewski recorded two RBI, while Luke Erb and Anderson each scored twice.

Hartman got the Nittany Lions on board in the first inning with a ground out to second base that scored Keeanu Erb. Hartman finished the game 1-for-4 with an RBI.

The Nittany Lions last reached the NCAA Tournament in 2009, where they finished with a 1-2 record. In 2011 and 2012, Berks won the NEAC South Division Title, but lost to the NAC Division winner for the automatic qualifier.

The NCAA will release the tournament details tonight after midnight. Please check back later for information on teams, location, dates, and time.