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| Junior Josh Baar came through with the knockout blow in the top half of the ninth inning for Penn State Abington. With two runners on base and two outs in the inning, Baar came to the plate in a pinch-hit opportunity and launched a three-run homer over the left field fence to give Abington a 9-5 lead. Penn State Abington athletics photo |
Penn State Abington upset top-seeded Penn State Harrisburg, 9-6, on day two of the United East Conference Tournament and as a result the Nittany Lions advance to Wednesday's championship game unblemished in the double-elimination format. Abington will face Harrisburg elimination game Wednesday morning. Ryan McCarty finished the game 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI, including his 29th home run of the season. With his six total bases in the game, McCarty set the single season Division III record for most total bases with 219. Josh Baar's ninth inning home run marked his fifth homer of the season. He finished with a game-high three RBI. Today marked the 15th meeting between Abington and Harrisburg since the start of the 2011 season. Abington snapped a six game losing streak in the series and is now 8-7 versus Harrisburg in the all-time series. With the win, Abington extended its season-long winning streak to 15 games. The victory also snapped Harrisburg's 17-game winning streak.
- Winning NCAA playoff bids today: Husson (NAC), William Paterson (NJAC)
The first UEC tounament contest of the day followed suit with the two the previous day as Penn College beat Lancaster Bible 16-10. A trio of RBI singles and an error put the Wildcats ahead in the top of the opening inning, a lead they would keep. In the bottom of the seventh, Lancaster Bible made its toughest push as they scored three but were unable to complete the comeback as Penn College added five over the next two frames. The Wildcats finished with 17 hits including four from both Jacob Carles and Tristan Current. Jake Wagner, Connor Burke and Current each clocked a home run as well for the Wildcats.
The Penn State Harrisburg Lions controlled this game right from the get go as they plated five runs over the first two frames in route to a 13-4 win. Penn College would get one back in the third inning, but a three run fourth from Harrisburg solidified an 8-1 lead. The Wildcats once again made a bid to comeback scoring three in the fifth but that was all they were able to muster. Seven different Lions registered a hit in the contest including Matt Parks who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two walks. Maddux Ryan also displayed a solid performance going 2-for-4 with 3 RBI. On the base paths, Harrisburg was able to steal 10 bags. Dallas Hite led everyone with four while Parks finished with a pair.
The SLIAC opened their playoff schedule with two play-in games. Spalding defeated Eureka 4-1 and Greenville outlasted Westminster (Mo.) 16-14. Clay Burton and Aaron Blake combined for a five-hit game. Burton pitched five innings and left on the losing side, having given up an unearned run. Blake got the win as the Golden Eagle offense woke up to tie the game in the seventh and add the winning margin with three runs in the eighth inning. Spalding goes on to face second seeded Fontbonne. Top seeded Webster will play Greenville. The Panthers fell behind by ten runs after 2.5 innings but a ten spot evened the score in the third and six runs over the next two innings provided enough runs to offset a Westminster comeback attempt.
Following a disappointing decision regarding the Cenntenial Conference tournment, Franklin & Marshall (25-14) earned a key win over a regionally ranked opponent. Down by as many as five runs and trailing 12-8 entering the ninth, the cardiac Diplomats came all the way back to grab a 13-12 victory over Scranton in 10 innings during a non-conference matchup between regionally ranked opponents on Tuesday evening. Franklin & Marshall pulled together their second come-from-behind victory in as many games in the win over the Royals (28-10-1). The sixth-ranked Diplomats helped bolster their chances for an at-large selection in the NCAA Championship, taking down the fourth-ranked team in Region V for a second time this season. F&M now sports a 2-1 record against teams ahead of them in the region. Things looked bleak for F&M, but on this night under the lights in Scranton with everything still left to play for, the Diplomats refused to be denied. Patrick Cettina landed on first after getting plunked, followed by a Conner Rush single, then Pat Elliott reaching on an error. Tommy Denlinger trimmed the deficit to two on a double down the right field line, and Spencer Berson continued the rally with a return-to-sender single back up the middle to tie the game at 12-12. After the Royals led off the bottom of the ninth with a leadoff single, Thomas McLaughlin and Conner Rush paired for a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play to put two outs on the board. McLaughlin got the final out on strikes to send the game into extras. With two down in the 10th, Connor Rush singled through the left side, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Pat Elliott beat out a slow chopper to third, pushing Rush just 90 feet away. Tommy Denlinger answered the call again with an RBI single up the gut for the 13-12 lead. Dan Galef gave up a leadoff single, but got the final three Royals on strikes to secure the victory. The Diplomats used 14 different field players and eight separate pitchers in the win.
In what was a impromptu doubleheader, Ripon' swept a doubleheader at Marian on Tuesday in their final tune-up before Friday's Midwest Conference Tournament. The Red Hawks won the first game 8-3, before completing the sweep with a 10-4 victory in game two. Ripon (19-21) was in control of game one from the outset, scoring three times in the first inning, as Samuel Ott recorded a sac fly, followed by Cam Stampfl crossing the plate on a wild pitch and Nick Terrell stealing home. Terrell and Ott each added an RBI in the second inning before Marian (15-24) scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the second. Game two saw Marian strike first with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning. Keegan Johnston answered with an RBI single down the right field line to get the Red Hawks on the board in the second. After Marian got that run back in the bottom of that inning, Ripon tied the game on a two-run single up the middle by Tenny. They would then take their first lead of the contest in the sixth when Price scored on a wild pitch and Madigan drove in a run with a single. Ott would add a pair of RBI later in the game, while the other Ripon runs scored on an error and a wild pitch.