WINTER HAVEN, FL- A total of 36 runs were scored by Juniata and Penn State Abington and in the end it was the Nittany Lions who came out on top with a 20-16 win over the Eagles on Wednesday. The teams also totaled 30 hits with the Nittany Lions holding a 16-14 advantage.
Abington scored seven times in the first inning before Juniata got a chance to bat as it chased Eagles starter Brady Cotler (Chadds Ford, PA/Salesianum) from the game. Andre Pendelton's (Penn Valley, PA/Harriton) single was able to score Jacob Terry (Denver, PA/Cocalico) to make it 7-1.
The Nittany Lions increased their lead to 10-1 with a run in the second and a pair of scores in the third. JC could only muster two runs to trail 10-3.
Abington tacked on a six spot in the seventh inning to go ahead 16-3. Juniata was able to answer back with seven runs. Three runs were walked in while another was scored on a wild pitch. The score was now 16-10 in the Nittany Lions' favor.
While Abington scored twice in the top of the eight, the Eagles began to make things interesting in the bottom portion of the frame. With the bases loaded and no outs, Chris Schreder (Litiz, PA/Lancaster Catholic) reached on a fielder's choice, which allowed Tyler Morris (Ellicott City MD/Lancaster Catholic) to come home. The next batter, Kyle Pannebacker (Thompsontown, PA/East Juniata), was hit by a pitch, which let Josh Keszczyk (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown) to come in. Nick Mistretta (South Williamsport, PA/South Williamsport) hit into a fielder's choice to score Eric Grace (Hopewell, PA/Northern Bedford). Alex Matoushek's (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) sacrifice fly scored Schreder. Ian Prescott (Newark, DE/Sanford School) struck out to end the inning, but a wild pitch allowed Mistretta to score and suddenly Juniata only trailed by three runs, 18-15.
Two runs by the Nittany Lions made it a 20-15 contest. In the home portion of the ninth, Juniata had the bases loaded and one out. Schreder's fielder's choice scored Morris, but that would be the only run for the Eagles as Pannebacker flied out to end the game.
Terry and Pendleton both had big games for Juniata. Terry hit two doubles and finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a RBI. Pendleton had one double and was 2-for-2 with a RBI and walked once. Sinisi was 2-for-3 with a RBI and Grace finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a RBI.
The Eagles are off tomorrow. They begin a three game series with Landmark rival Merchant Marine on Friday. Game 1 will be at 3 p.m. with the second game slated to start at 6 p.m.
