ROME, N.Y. (May 1, 2011) – The Penn State Berks baseball team defeated Penn State Abington 10-1 on Sunday afternoon to capture its second North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) title in three years. Berks will face the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) champion next Saturday.
The No. 4 seed Nittany Lions knocked off all the top seeds in the conference playoffs, outscoring the three teams 26-9. Nick Vitelli was named the tournament MVP after recording seven hits, three RBI, three runs scored. The sophomore shortstop also made several key plays in the field, finishing with six putouts and 19 assists in the three contests.
Junior Kevin Heilman pitched a complete game gem. He scattered five hits and allowed just one unearned run.
After Abington put up a run in the top of the first, Heilman went the rest of the way without allowing more than one runner on base at a time. He retired the side in order in four innings.
The Nittany Lions pounded out 15 hits in the win, including five players with two or more.
Vitelli led the way with a 3 for 5 showing at the plate and two runs scored. Connor Corson added two hits and scored three runs. Michael Ference, Dillon Landrigan and Kyle Hartman each tallied two hits. Ference had a game-high three runs batted in.
Berks jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second inning on RBI singles by Ference, Aaron Wilkins and Geraldo Garcia. The Lions tacked on two more in the third on RBIs by Ference and Dillon Landrigan.
Abington had five hits from each of the top four batters in the lineup. They had three pitchers combine for five strikeouts in the loss.
The Nittany Lions will face NAC Champion Husson University next Saturday in a best-of-three series in Castleton, Vermont. The winner will earn a berth in the NCAA Division III Championship.
