MIDDLETOWN, Pa. - With a mighty two-out swing in the bottom of the ninth, Brendan Henn lifted No. 14 Penn State Harrisburg to a thrilling 5-3, walk-off victory over Bridgewater State on Friday afternoon in the first game of the NCAA Regional hosted by Penn State Harrisburg.

Henn was 2-for-5 with a two-run walk-off blast and a double, while Coy Schwanger had a three-hit day. Josh Berzonski earned the win, throwing three hitless innings of relief after starter Danny Eden went six frames with four strikeouts.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After Braeden Piotrowski worked a four-pitch, two-out walk in the bottom of the ninth, Henn let one pitch go by before connecting on a thunderous swing that launched the ball over the fence in straightaway center to seal the first win of the Harrisburg Regional for the hosts and send the Penn State Harrisburg dugout into a frenzy.

Facing a 3-0 deficit and struggling to get the bats going through the middle innings, Penn State Harrisburg (35-9) got a rally going in the bottom of the sixth, sparked by Kevin Lehner's one-out walk and a Schwanger single up the middle. Blaine Waltimyer followed it up by lacing a double to right field that drove in Lehner before Tim Haftl cut the deficit to one with an RBI, infield single one at-bat later. Demetre Koutras III came through with a pinch-hit RBI groundout that plated Waltimyer and tied things up heading into the seventh.

Berzonski entered in the seventh and retired the Bears (26-15) in order before working another 1-2-3 inning in the eighth, capped by a strikeout to end the frame. In the ninth, the southpaw retired Bridgewater State in order, puncuated by a backwards K.

The visitors struck right away, using a pair of singles and a wild pitch to jump out to a 1-0 advantage in the top of the first. DJ Prampin doubled the lead with a solo home run in the second and after the Lions left the bases loaded to end the second, the Bears tacked on another in the fourth with three straight singles, including an RBI base knock from Prampin.

NOTABLES

- Each of Penn State Harrisburg's last two NCAA Regional victories have come via the walk-off home run after Dallas Hite's two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth secured a memorable NCAA win over No. 2 Salisbury last spring.

- With the victory, Penn State Harrisburg set a new single-season program record for wins (35)

- Henn went 2-for-5 with a home run, a double, two RB, and run scored.

- Schwanger finished 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored.

- Berzonski earned his sixth win of the season, throwing three innings of relief without allowing a baserunner to go along with two strikeouts.

- Eden went six innings, holding the Bears to three runs on eight hits and striking out four.

- The Lions swiped three bags in the win.

WHO'S NEXT?

The Lions continue NCAA Regional play and will face the winner of No. 22/24 Randolph-Macon and (RV) Elizabethtown on Saturday at 12 p.m.

STAY CONNECTED 

Fans can keep up with Penn State Harrisburg Athletics all season long on Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Threads, and Youtube using the handle @pshbgathletics.