Koenig pitching
8
Winner Penn State Berks PSBM 19-16-1
6
SUNY Polytechnic SITM 16-16
Winner
Penn State Berks PSBM
19-16-1
8
Final
6
SUNY Polytechnic SITM
16-16
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Penn State Berks PSBM 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 4 0 8 16 1
SUNY Polytechnic SITM 3 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 6 13 3

W: Hartman, Kyle (3-1) L: A. Scharra (2-2)

13
Winner Penn State Berks PSBM 20-16-1
3
Penn State Abington PSA 19-21
Winner
Penn State Berks PSBM
20-16-1
13
Final
3
Penn State Abington PSA
19-21
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Penn State Berks PSBM 2 1 0 0 4 2 4 0 0 13 20 1
Penn State Abington PSA 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 9 3

W: Koenig, Steve (6-1) L: Smallwood (4-2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Nittany Lions advance to NEAC title game

MARCY, N.Y. (May 9, 2015) - The Penn State Berks baseball team overcame its loss on day one that sent them to the loser's bracket, by defeating host SUNY Polytechnic, 8-6, and Penn State Abington, 13-3 on Saturday afternoon to advance to the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Championship for the fifth consecutive season.

The Nittany Lions (20-16-1) trailed 6-0 after five innings against the top seeded Wildcats, but eight unanswered runs in the sixth through eighth innings propelled Berks to a win and sent the host team packing. In a rematch from Friday with Abington, Berks was able to pound out 20 hits and runaway with the contest after scoring the last 10 runs of the game and again staving off elimination.

Abington entered the game Saturday afternoon 3-0 against Berks, outscoring them 25-14. But it was the most important matchup of the season between the two teams when Berks was finally able to pick up the win. Nick Zipay went a career-best 5-for-6 with a double, an RBI, and two runs scored. Pearce Harhigh broke a 3-all tie with a three-run home run, his first of the year, on his way to season-high four runs batted in. Dylan Gallagher and Luke Erb each had three hits, three RBI, and two doubles, while Tom Grablewski went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a double. All nine batters in the starting lineup had at least one hit and one run scored.

Steve Koenig continued his excellence from the pitcher's mound with his fourth complete-game, but first ever that was nine innings long. The senior right-hander improved to 6-1 on the season with a 2.16 ERA in 54.1 innings of work. Those six wins are tied for the most in a single-season in program history, while his ERA is the second best all-time.

Koenig allowed only two base runners from the fifth inning on and sat down the final nine batters in order. He gave up a two-run homer to cap a three run third inning for Abington, all of those, however, were unearned.

In the opening game, fellow senior Kyle Hartman pitched four innings of four-hit, scoreless relief to pick up his third win and lowered his ERA to 1.40 on the season. The senior left-hander did not allow any base runners beyond second base and the biggest threat were runners on first and second in the 7th and 8th innings. Hartman finished the game with three strikeouts.

Much like the Abington game, the Nittany Lions had at least one hit from every starter on the way to belting 16 hits. Grablewski, who went 3-for-5, has three hits in all three games has a batting average of .692 for the tournament. Luke Erb also collected three hits, while adding two runs batted in, and two stolen bases. Damian Mace went 2-for-5 with two RBI, and a run scored.

Zipay drew a bases loaded walk in the top of the sixth to cut the Wildcat (16-16) lead to 6-1. In the next inning, Grablewski and Hartman led off with singles and moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt by Gallagher. Luke Erb drove in both runners with a two-out single. Erb stole second base and scored on a single by Harhigh to cap a three run fourth, to make it a 6-4 lead for SUNY Poly.

Zipay and Fox led off the eighth with singles and Grablewski scored Zipay with a single of his own. Fox tied the game at 8-all on a wild pitch. Mace tacked the go-ahead run and an insurance run with a single to left field.

The Nittany Lions will now need to beat No. 4 Penn College on Sunday with the first game slated for 10 a.m. The if necessary game would then follow, with the home and away teams switching sides.
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