The Lancaster Bible baseball team began North Eastern Athletic Conference play on Friday in Abington, Pa. and for the first time since joining the NEAC prior to the 2012 season, the Chargers won their conference-opening game, before dropping game two as Penn St. Abington won game two, 6-5 after the Chargers took game one, 9-6 in 10 innings. Lancaster Bible is now 9-11 overall and 1-1 in conference play, while the Nittany Lions are now 10-15 overall and 1-1 in NEAC play.

Game 1
Lancaster Bible 9, Penn St. Abington 6 (10 innings)
How it Happened: The Chargers held a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning thanks to a Jensen King triple in the second inning that scored Will Welsh. After the Nittany Lions tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth, Lancaster Bible scored three times in the top of the sixth as King added another RBI and Justin Taylor drew a bases loaded walk to extend the Chargers' lead to three.

The Nittany Lions got two runs back in their half of the sixth inning, but Lancaster Bible responded again with two runs in the top of the seventh as Braden Elliott and Hunter Gray each had RBI singles. Keeping the trend, Penn St. Abington scored twice in its half of the seventh inning and Lancaster Bible led 6-5 as the teams went to the bottom of the eighth. Penn St. Abington got an RBI groundout to tie the game at 6-6 and after a scoreless ninth inning, the teams headed to extras. 

In the 10th inning, Erich Carroll hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded that scored Gray, and Josh Mayer came around to score on an error by Penn St. Abington an the Chargers took an 8-6 lead. Adam Cohick hit a sacrifice fly later in the inning that restored Lancaster Bible's three-run lead and Mitch Kumher pitched a scoreless bottom of the 10th to give Lancaster Bible the victory.

Inside the Box Score: Lancaster Bible pounded 18 hits in game one, led by Welsh's 4-for-6 effort that also saw him score two runs...Mayer finished 3-for-5 with a run scored...Gray was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI...Taylor and JJ Sanchez were each 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI...King was 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI...Starter Nate Burns pitched well for the Chargers as he went 5 1/3 innings and scattered six hits and struck out four while allowing just three runs.

Extra Bases: Lancaster Bible had lost its opening NEAC game the first four seasons as a conference member, including opening last season with an 8-7 loss in 10 innings to Keuka...Lancaster Bible's 18 hits were the second-most in a single game this season, trailing just the 33 hits the Chargers had against Valley Forge.

Game 2
Penn St. Abington 6, Lancaster Bible 5
How it Happened: Penn St. Abington jumped out to a 6-0 lead as the Nittany Lions scored three runs in both the third and fifth innings. Lancaster Bible came roaring back in the fifth inning as the Chargers plated five runs and cut their deficit to one. With the bases loaded, Welsh drew a walk to make it 6-1 and King and Brian Niedergall followed with RBI singles that made it a 6-3 game. Welsh scored on Elliott's fielder's choice to make it 6-4 and Gray followed with another RBI single to cut the deficit to 6-5. 

The Chargers put the tying run on base in the top of the seventh, but Erich Carroll, who was hit by a pitch, was stranded on first as the game ended. 

Inside the Box Score: After blasting 18 hits in game one, the Chargers mustered just eight in game two, led by Mayer's 2-for-4 effort...Zack Leonard threw 4 1/3 innings as he scattered seven hits and struck out three.

Up Next: Lancaster Bible will continue NEAC play on Sunday as the Chargers visit Gallaudet in Washington, D.C...The doubleheader, which was originally scheduled to be played at Lancaster Bible on Saturday, is set to begin at 1 p.m.