Laudenslager and Skrocki split
4
Winner Penn State Berks PSBM 24-14, 13-5 NEAC
2
Keuka KEUM 25-16, 15-3 NEAC
Winner
Penn State Berks PSBM
24-14, 13-5 NEAC
4
Final
2
Keuka KEUM
25-16, 15-3 NEAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Penn State Berks PSBM 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 9 0
Keuka KEUM 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 6 0

W: Skrocki, Drew (6-4) L: J. DiBenedet (2-2)

3
Wells WELM 18-22, 9-9 NEAC
5
Winner Penn State Berks PSBM 25-14, 13-5 NEAC
Wells WELM
18-22, 9-9 NEAC
3
Final
5
Penn State Berks PSBM
25-14, 13-5 NEAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Wells WELM 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 9 0
Penn State Berks PSBM 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 2 X 5 14 3

W: Laudenslager, Alex (7-1) L: Mott,Alex (0-5)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball wins two on Saturday, advances to NEAC Championship

AURORA, N.Y. - The Penn State Berks baseball team kept its season alive with a pair of games on Saturday afternoon to advance to the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Championship game on Sunday afternoon. Berks opened the day with a 4-2 victory over No. 1 seed Keuka College, followed by a 5-3 win over fifth seed Wells College.

In both games, the Nittany Lions (25-14) scored a pair of runs in the later innings and in both games received complete-game pitching efforts.

Against Keuka in the opening game of the day, Berks got on the board with two runs in the top of the second. Eric Gale doubled to left center to score Dante Salerno, who reached earlier in the inning on a walk. Tyler Kreitz had a two-out double to score Gale and make it a 2-0 lead.

The Wolves chipped away at the deficit with one run in the sixth and evened it at 2-all with another run in the seventh inning.

The scored remained that way until the top of the ninth inning when Gale led off with a walk and was lifted for pinch runner Nick Esz. A ground out and a sacrifice bunt advanced Esz to third base, where he was knocked in on a single to center field by freshman Noah Kurtz. Austin Madeja followed with a double to left center to score Kurtz and increase the lead to 4-2.

Drew Skrocki got a ground out and then issued a walk in the bottom of the ninth. The junior right-hander then forced a 4-6-3 game ending double play to earn the first complete-game of his collegiate career. Skrocki turned in a phenomenal effort from start to finish on the mound. He gave up six hits and just two runs, while striking out three batters and issuing just two walks in 9.0 innings of work. Skrocki faced just three batters an inning in six of the nine innings pitched, with the help of one double play and one base runner getting thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double.

Madeja and Dalton Hughes each went 2-for-5, with Madeja recording two doubles and an RBI. Toby Welk (triple), Gale (double), Kreitz (double), and Kurtz all finished the day 1-for-3.

In the second game of the day, Wells struck first with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning. Berks responded with a run in the bottom of the second when a bases loaded walk to Kurtz forced in Gale, who singled earlier in the inning. In the third inning, Salerno singled to left center to score Hughes from first and even the game at 2-2.

The Express (18-22) scored on unearned run in the fourth to go up 3-2. The score remained that way until the bottom of the sixth, when Kurtz singled through the left side with two outs to score Kreitz and even the game at 3-all.

In the eighth, Kreitz had a one-out single and Esz walked before the Wolves picked up the second out with a strikeout. Madeja had an infield single to load up the bases and Hughes followed with a single to left field to bring in Kreitz and Esz, giving Berks a 5-3 lead.
Alex Laudenslager got a strikeout looking for the first out of the ninth inning. After a Keuka single, Laudenslager forced a pair of groundouts to end the game and send the Nittany Lions to their ninth straight NEAC Title game.

Laudenslager turned in a solid performance by scattering nine hits and allowing three runs (two earned), while striking out six batters and issuing four walks. The sophomore right-hander improved to 6-1 on the season and chucked his second complete game of the season.

Hughes was 3-for-5 with two RBI, and a run scored. Welk finished 3-for-4 with a double and a stolen base, while Madeja was 2-for-5. Six other players in the starting lineup finished with one hit.

Berks will square off with No. 2 seed Penn State Abington in the NEAC Championship on Sunday, May 12 at 10 a.m. on the campus of Wells College. Berks will need to beat Abington twice to win the title.



 
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