New England College 12, Penn State Harrisburg 9

Harrisburg Lineup

1. Williams lf, 2. Smith cf, 3. Torres ss, 4. Van Houten p, 5. Winters rf, 6. McSorley 3b, 7. Koroneos 1b, 8. Aug c, 9. Struve 2b

NEC Lineup

1. Aybar cf, 2. Atiles ss, 3. Nunez 3b, 4. Delaney rf, 5. Castillo 1b, 6. Jiminez 2b, 7. Maestu c, 8. Fulkerson dh, 9. Carey lf, Vargas p

How It Happened

Penn State Harrisburg fell into an early hole and despite putting up runs into the late innings, dropped a 12-9 decision to New England College in the final outing of the team's spring break trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C. on Thursday afternoon, March 7.

The Lions (5-2-1) faced an uphill battle after the Pilgrims (6-1) put up six runs in the game's first three innings. The top of the fourth saw the Blue & White get on the board when Jackson Struve's RBI single drove in Ryan McSorley. Bret Williams continued his strong start to the spring by hitting his first home run of the season, a three-run bomb to left center field, to cut the deficit to 6-4 after four.

Penn State Harrisburg pulled to within one thanks to a Casey Winters sacrifice fly that plated Travis Van Houten in the top of the fifth but NEC responded with four runs in the bottom of the stanza to push the lead back to four after five innings of play.

The Pilgrims tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth but Tyler Aug came up big for the Lions in the top of the seventh when he launched a grand slam over the left field fence to give his team life heading into the final frames.

Unfortunately, Blue & White batters would fail to reach base in the eighth and ninth innings, as the Pilgrims were able to halt Penn State Harrisburg's late comeback attempt.

At the Plate

- The Lions racked up four extra-base hits, highlighted by Tyler Aug's grand slam home run.

- After leading the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) in homers a year ago, Bret Williams' three-run blast was his first of the young season.

- Travis Van Houten tripled, while Zachary Koroneos added a double.

- Miguel Torres and Jackson Struve had multi-hit games with two base knocks apiece.

On the Mound

- Travis Van Houten got the start for the Blue & White, lasting three innings and surrendering six runs on nine hits.

- Relievers Justin Kaplan, Brad Richards and Zach Gettys allowed two runs each.

- Brendan Riotto was solid, scattering just three hits and striking out three batters in 2.2 innings of work.

- Stanley Vargas got the win for NEC despite allowing eight runs on 10 hits. He threw 115 total pitches in six innings.

Around the Diamond

- Each team committed one error but neither miscue led to any unearned runs.

- The Pilgrims stole three bases, while Penn State Harrisburg catcher Tyler Aug threw out a fourth attempting to steal.

- Chase Smith had the lone stolen base for the Lions.

- Miguel Torres had three putouts and assisted on two more from his shortstop position.

- Bret Williams had two assists and two putouts in left field.

Who's Next?

The Lions return home from Myrtle Beach and are scheduled to host Penn State Berks for the team's home opener on Wednesday afternoon, March 13.

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