MIDDLETOWN, Pa. - Penn State Harrisburg's baseball team turned in one of its most dominant offensive performances of the spring during its doubleheader sweep of conference foe Penn State Abington on Saturday afternoon, April 11. The hometown Lions cruised to a 19-1 win in game one before closing out the day with a 10-7 victory over their United East rivals in the nightcap.
GAME 1
Penn State Harrisburg (20-10, 9-0 United East) put together the most impressive offensive inning in recent memory on Saturday, scoring 15 runs on 13 hits in the second inning of a decisive game one win over Penn State Abington (21-9, 7-3 United East).
Blaine Waltimyer crushed a pair of home runs and drove in five runs, while Coy Schwanger was a perfect 4-for-4 at the dish and scored three runs, as did Matthew Johansen. James Quici and Nathan Lapp each had three-hit games, with both players driving in three runs. Fisher Druck extended his program record for career wins after allowing just three hits and one run to go along with six strikeouts in five innings of work.
Waltimyer led off the bottom of the second frame by ripping a double to right center that set the bats ablaze, as a dozen more hits followed, including a bases-clearing triple from Quici and a three-run blast from Waltimyer. The hometown Lions batted around twice in the stanza and used three extra-base knocks and nine singles to build an insurmountable lead.
After Penn State Abington got one back on a solo home run in the top of the third, Waltimyer responded with his second home run of the game, this time a two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth that brought Schwanger around with him. Adam Bova put a cap on the game's offensive fireworks with a two-run double to right field in the fifth and reliever Landon Cochran induced a ground ball in the top of the seventh that resulted in a game-ending, 4-6-3 double play.
GAME 2
Penn State Harrisburg (21-10, 10-0 United East) overcame an early deficit before reaching the double-digit run mark for the second time in as many games to complete the sweep of Penn State Abington (21-10, 7-4 United East) in Saturday's final contest.
The visitors jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first but the hometown Lions quickly answered back with a pair of runs in the bottom half, sparked by Schwanger's RBI double to center field that plated Quici before Waltimyer drove in Schwanger with a sac fly to right field.
Schwanger tied it up with an RBI single up the middle in the third and Penn State Harrisburg pulled ahead for the first time when Lapp's bunt single allowed Johansen to score from third in the fourth. Before the stanza was through, Schwanger came through with another RBI single that drove in Catania to double the advantage.
Penn State Abington cut the deficit to one with a solo shot in the top of the fifth but Waltimyer unloaded another mighty swing in the bottom half, with his third home run of the day pushing the lead back to two. Lapp added another RBI in the fifth and the home team tacked on three more in the sixth, with Tim Haftl and Catania each recording RBI singles in the frame.
The visitors made it interesting thanks to a pair of runs in the seventh and another in the eighth but reliever Cade Baker entered in the penultimate stanza and quickly squashed the comeback effort, retiring all but one of the six batters he faced in the final 1.2 innings.
NOTABLES
- In total, Penn State Harrisburg racked up 41 hits in the pair of wins.
- Waltimyer finished 5-of-7 with three home runs, a double, an intentional walk, seven RBI and four runs across both games.
- Schwanger finished a perfect 9-for-9 on the day, with two doubles, five runs and five RBI.
- Across both outings, Quici was 5-for-9 with a triple, three RBI and four runs.
- Druck improved to 5-1 on the season after allowing just one run on three hits and striking out six in five innings thrown during the opener.
- Lapp went 3-for-4 with a walk, three RBI and three runs in game one.
- Johansen had two hits in each contest, tallying five runs and an RBI.
- Koutras with four hits on the day, scoring three runs and driving in three more.
- Maguire earned his third win of the season in game two.
- Baker secured his second save of the spring in the nightcap, allowing just one baserunner in 1.2 innings of relief.
WHO'S NEXT?
The Lions travel to No. 25/(RV) Mary Washington for a pivotal non-conference game on Sunday afternoon.
STAY CONNECTED
Fans can keep up with Penn State Harrisburg Athletics all season long on Instagram, Facebook, X and Youtube using the handle @pshbgathletics.
