Wilkes-Barre, PA- After day two of the United East Baseball Tournament, Penn State Harrisburg and Lancaster Bible College have advanced to the tournament finale. Harrisburg defeated Lancaster Bible College 17-4 in game four and then the Chargers bounced back and took down the Penn State Abington 9-5 in game five.

Harrisburg will have an opportunity to secure the conference championship with a win game six tomorrow at 11:00 AM while LBC will need to win games six and seven to capture the title. Those games will played at Christy Mathewson Field on the campus of Keystone College

Game 4 - #2 Penn State Harrisburg def. #4 Lancaster Bible College, 17-4 (Box Score)
Penn State Harrisburg grabbed the momentum in the first inning, plating four runs. The Lions quickly loaded the bases and Demtre Koutras III singled to center field, driving in the first two runs of the game. Later in the inning after adding a third run, Tim Haftl lifted an RBI single to left field, scoring Koutras III to make the score 4-0.

Harrisburg struck again in the third inning. Kourtas III got the scoring going, capitalizing on a passed ball to give the Lions a 5-0 advantage. Nathan Lapp then crushed a triple to center field, allowing another run to score. Kevin Kingsbury laid down an excellent squeeze bunt, allowing Lapp to score. James Quici finished off the scoring with an RBI double to right center, scoring Kingsbury.

The Lions kept the pressure on scoring three more runs in the fifth inning, highlighted by an RBI single by Matthew Johansen. Harrisburg added three more runs in the sixth inning, building a 14-0 lead. Alex Davis launched a solo home run over the left field fence, pushing the advantage to 15. Harrisburg tacked on two more runs in the eighth inning, holding a 17-0 lead going to the ninth inning.

LBC tried to cut into the deficit in the top of the ninth inning. Gabe Reif drove in the Chargers first run with a ground ball to third base. Dylan Witkowski then launched three run home run to center field, making the score 17-4. Harrisburg halted any further rally, securing the victory.

Koutras III led the Lions offense, going 3-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored. On the mound, Bradyn Eckert pitched 7.0 innings, allowing only seven hits while striking out six.

Game 5 - #3 Penn State Abington  #4 Lancaster Bible College, 9-5 (Box Score)
The teams struggled to get their offense going in the first three innings, but Penn State Abington broke through in the bottom of the fourth inning. Nathan Schurga drove a single to right field, bringing in the game’s first run. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, John Busco blasted a ball into left field, allowing two runs to score.

Lancaster Bible College answered right back, scoring eight runs in the top of the fifth inning. Tanner Smith lined a single into right field, putting the Chargers’ first run on the board. Malachi Sloane hit a sharp ground ball on the right side to allowing a run to score. Everett Bell kept the rally going slicing a single up the middle to bring home a run and level the score at three. CJ Peterson put the LBC ahead, blasting a three-run home run over the left field fence. The Chargers kept going, and with two runners on base, Evan Sareyka tripled to right field, giving LBC an 8-3 lead.

Abington began the road back, loading the bases in the bottom of the fifth inning. Schurga then drew a walk, allowing Abington to score a run. Later in the inning a wild pitch allowed Jaxon Horvath to score, cutting the deficit down to three. LBC answered back in the top of the sixth inning, when Everett Bell scored on a wild pitch, giving the Chargers a 9-5 lead.

LBC turned to Sareyka to pitch the final five innings, and he shut down Abington's offense, holding them to only one hit in the final three innings, securing the victory for the Chargers. Sareyka also earned the victory. Peterson led the Chargers with 3 RBIs while Dylan Witkowski went 3-4 with a double and scored two runs.