MIDDLETOWN, Pa. - For the third time in as many seasons, the Penn State Harrisburg baseball team was crowned United East Champions after downing Penn College, 27-7, Saturday afternoon on a drizzly day in Middletown, Pa. With the result, Harrisburg moves to 33-10 on the year while the Wildcats will conclude their season with a record of 22-20.

The Lions, who went undefeated in Championship Tournament play, will now represent the United East in the NCAA Division III National Championship. The squad will learn where they will be going and who they will be playing at noon on Monday.

Harrisburg took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the opening frame but Penn College piled up five runs across the next two innings to hold a four-run lead. The Lions chipped away at the deficit with two runs in the bottom of the third and used a five-run fourth to regain the lead.

A pair of runs split between the two sides made up the fifth inning scoring which brought a 9-6 lead for the Lions into the sixth. It was in that frame that the Harrisburg offense exploded for 14 runs. The top seed racked up 11 runs before a rain delay paused the contest for nearly two hours. With the tarp removed, the Lions added three more to take a commanding 23-6 lead. With four more insurance runs added over the next two frames, that was all that was needed to complete the 3-peat.

All nine Lion starters registered at least one hit during the contest with seven registering multiple knocks. Rookie of the Year Carlos Irizarry finished the day 4-for-5 with four RBI while Dallas Hite, Brenden Henn, Maddux Ryan, Blaine Waltimeyer and Lucas Floyd all cashed in four hits. Hite, Waltimayer and Floyd each went yard once while Henn, who was tabbed the MVP of the tournament, crushed a pair of homers.

The Wildcat offense also had producers as five players finished with multiple hits. Jacob Carles led the pack, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored.