KINGSTON, Pa. - The best season in program history ended with a championship for the Penn State Altoona baseball team, which won a pair of nine-inning games Friday against Neumann College and Wesley College to capture its first Eastern College Athletic Conference South Region Championship in school history.  The Lions narrowly escaped Neumann, 5-4, then overcame an early deficit to explode past Wesley, 22-14.

In the opener, senior pitcher Paul Keith (Smithmill, PA/Moshannon Valley) closed his career in dominating fashion, hurling 151 pitches during a complete-game victory over the Knights.  Keith, who finished the year 9-1, scattered 10 hits and struck out 13 Neumann hitters on the afternoon.

Altoona cracked the scoreboard early when Jim Byers (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg) stepped up to the plate with the based loaded and stroked a three-run double down the left field line. 

The Knights would answer with two runs in the second and another in the third to tie the game at 3-3.  The Lions retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth when tournament Most Outstanding Player Grady Luzier (Forest, PA/West Branch) hammered a double that scored Jimmy Baum (Shermansdale, PA/West Perry).

Neumann again knotted the scored with a run on three hits in the top of the seventh before it was Luzier to the rescue in the bottom of the frame.  The sophomore slapped a one-out single to left field that scored RJ Barnard (Hollidaysburg, PA/Hollidaysburg), who doubled a batter earlier, and gave Penn State Altoona the lead for good.

Luzier was a perfect 4-for-4 in the game, while Baum and John Schall (Snow Shoe, PA/Bald Eagle) each had two hits apiece.

With the victory, the second-seeded Lions advanced to meet fifth seed Wesley for the tournament title.  Wesley qualified to Friday's final four by beating Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference member Frostburg State on Wednesday and knocked off top seed and host Wilkes University, 10-9, in Friday's morning game.

In the championship, both Altoona and Wesley combined to crack 32 hits and use eight different pitchers.  The Lions trailed 10-3 entering the bottom of the fourth inning before a crucial 11-run frame that featured seven hits including a three-run home run by Barnard and two RBI from Byers.

Altoona led 14-10 but watched Wesley answer with two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to tie the slugfest at 14-14.  It took another monster inning from Penn State Altoona, this time a seven-run seventh inning, to widen the margin and ensure a victory. 

Schall blasted a two-run home run in the decisive seventh frame, and Luzier connected on a two-RBI single.  Kevin Obermeier (York, PA/York Catholic) entered as a relief pitcher for the Lions in the fifth and earned the win by hurling 4 1/3 innings and allowing just two hits and two runs.

Barnard finished the championship game 4-for-6 with four RBI and three runs scored.  Luzier was equally impressive, going 3-for-4 with five runs scored and four more driven in.  Five other players had at least two hits in the victory.

Penn State Altoona concluded its 2009 season at 32-17 overall, a full 12 wins better than the previous single-season record of 20.  The only seniors on this year's team were Keith and Barnard.