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May 3, 2008

Fleischut Carries Nittany Lions to NEAC Championship Game

May 3, 2008 - (Rome, NY) - Sophomore Pitcher/Shortstop Tyler Fleischut (Doylestown, PA/C.B. West) has done it all for the Nittany Lions all season long.  Saturday morning's NEAC semifinal game against top seeded Cazenovia College (21-12) was just another typical day at the office for Fleischut.  As if going 4 for 5 with 4 runs and 2 RBI at the plate wasn't doing enough for his team in the biggest game of the season, Fleischut decided to pitch a complete game to lead the third seeded Nittany Lions (17-26) to their first ever appearance in the NEAC Championship game. 

Fleischut did not wait long to make his impact on the game for the Nittany Lions, leading off the game with a double down the right field line.  He was bunted over to third and later scored on a ground out by senior center fielder Josh Tiuchty (Northampton, PA/Northampton).  

After throwing two perfect innings, it was time for Fleischut to take the glove off and step back into the batter's box.  After second baseman Pat Griffin (Newtown, PA/Council Rock North) led off the inning with a groundout to short, Fleischut took a Bryan Atkin's (Mattydale, NY/CNS) fastball down the right field line for the second time in the game, but this time managed to leg out a triple.  He then scored on a passed ball to put the Nittany Lions up 2-0 going into the bottom of the third inning.  In the bottom of the third inning the Wildcats finally caught up with Fleischut and put together three straight singles to score one run and got a little help from Fleischut with a wild pitch to tie the game at two runs apiece. 

The next three innings saw each team swapping run for run and after six complete innings the Nittany Lions trailed the Wildcats by a score of 4-3.  With only nine outs remaining, the Nittany Lions found an opportune time to pounce on the Wildcats when Atkins, their starter, came out of the game and set the stage for freshman pitcher Joe Pallone (Liverpool, NY/Bishop Grimes) to try to keep the Nittany Lions at bay.  It was apparent from the first pitch that the freshman was not ready to be thrown into a playoff atmosphere and walked Griffin to lead off the inning and followed that by hitting Fleischut.  After a couple of passed balls and a stolen base by Fleischut, the Nittany Lions had runners on second and third with no outs, but left fielder Adam Maurer (Washington Township, NJ/Warren Hills)  grounded back to Pallone and could not advance the runners.  Fortunately the freshman pitcher continued to have control problems and allowed Fleischut to advance to third and Griffin to score on another wild pitch.  With one out and a runner on third base, Tiuchty strikes out swinging but reaches first base on an error by the Wildcat's catcher and then continues to steal second to set the stage for freshman standout Anthony Furillo (Reading, PA/Holy Name).  Furillo rips a fastball up the middle to score Fleischut and Tiuchty and the Nittany Lions take a 6-3 lead heading into the bottom half of the inning. 

Fleischut made quick work of the Wildcats in their half of the inning striking out one and getting two groundouts to shortstop Brian Reynolds (Pottstown, PA/Pottsgrove) and keeping the momentum on the Nittany Lions side.

The Nittany Lions continued to punish the young opposing reliever by scoring three runs on three hits and chased him out of the game without recording an out in the top of the eighth inning.  Veteran Aaron Wismar (Youngsville, PA/Youngsville) stepped in and settled the Nittany Lions down by escaping the inning without further harm.  Despite Wismar's valiant effort to keep his Wildcats in the game, the damage was already done and the Nittany Lions took a 9-4 lead into the ninth inning.  

In the bottom of the inning, with Fleischut tiring, Atkins managed to give the Wildcats some life with a leadoff, solo homerun.  Despite the sign of life in the Wildcat dugout, this was the last run that Fleischut allowed and shut down the Wildcats to lead the Nittany Lions to victory and their first ever berth in the NEAC Championship game.  

The Nittany Lions will face the second seeded Giants of Keystone College later today at 3:30 pm at Larry Delutis Field in Rome, NY for the 2008 North Eastern Athletic Conference Championship.