MIDDLETOWN, Pa. - An historic 2024 season came to an end for No. 14 Penn State Harrisburg with a narrow 6-5 loss to Elizabethtown on the final day of the NCAA Regional hosted by Penn State Harrisburg on Sunday afternoon, May 19. 

Dallas Hite finished with four hits and an RBI, while Carlos Irizarry drove in a pair of runs. Caiden Ertter was excellent in relief, allowing just two baserunners in 3.1 innings thrown. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

Penn State Harrisburg (35-11) outhit Elizabethtown (33-13) 12-8 but struggled to come through with the timely base knock late in the game, leaving 11 men on base in Sunday's setback, including four in the final two innings.

After leaving three runners in scoring position in the first two frames, the Lions watched Etown strike first with a solo home run in the bottom of the third. Another home run, this time a two-run shot, put the Blue Jays ahead 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth. 

Penn State Harrisburg responded with a big top of the fifth, sparked by a one-out double from Braeden Piotrowski. After a Brendan Henn walk, Drew Sassaman advanced the runners with a groundout to third base and the Lions went to work with two outs. Irizarry's infield single scored Piotrowski and Henn before a single to right field by Kevin Lehner drove in Irizarry to tie things up. After a Coy Schwanger walk, Hite came through with a single to left field that plated Lehner and gave the home team its first lead of the day.

After a lead-off walk in the top of the fifth, however, Etown used small ball to pull even, using a single and an RBI bunt squeeze play to tie things up. With two outs, Garrett Schwartzbeck came through with a two-strike, two-RBI single to center field that put the visitors back out in front after five.

The Lions left another runner in scoring position in the top of the sixth and couldn't get anything going in the seventh before threatening in the eighth, but again a runner was left stranded on third base to end the stanza. Penn State Harrisburg got a two-out rally going in the ninth, keyed by a Lehner single to left field, a stolen base by pinch runner Joe Licolli, and an RBI single by Schwanger. Hite moved him into scoring position with his fourth single of the day but Etown reliever Zach Silfies induced a ground ball to end the threat and the game.

NOTABLES

- The Lions completed the spring with a single-season program-record 35 wins.

- Thanks to his four-hit day, Hite ended his career with 238 hits - the second-most in program history.

- Irizarry was 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI and a run scored.

- Lehner went 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. He completed his career with the third-highest on-base percentage in program history.

- Piotrowski was 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.

- Ertter threw 3.1 innings of scoreless relief, allowing just one hit and one walk with one strikeout.

STAY CONNECTED 

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