Lions Fall At PSUAC Baseball Tournament

DUBOIS, Pa. – Penn State Brandywine cut a four-run deficit to just one during the bottom of the seventh inning, but Penn State Beaver held off the Lions and captured a 7-6 victory during the opening round of the PSUAC Baseball Tournament on Friday night.

Brandywine fell behind 4-0 after four innings, but cut its deficit in half after scoring a pair of runs in the fifth. Kevin Dougherty (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) reached on an error to lead off and came around to score on Dan McMenamin's (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) double into the left field corner. Two batters later, Pat Tackney (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown) singled through the left side, scoring McMenamin with Brandywine's second run.

However, Beaver answered with two runs during the top of the sixth to push its lead back to four. A run-scoring groundout from Tommy Crumlish (Upper Darby, Pa./Monsignor Bonner) made the score 6-3 in the sixth, but Beaver plated a run in the seventh to make it a four-run game once again.

Brandywine's first two hitters worked walks to lead off the seventh and Doug Medrano (Valley Stream, N.Y./Valley Stream Central) loaded the bases after being hit by a pitch. Steve Trainor (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) plated a run after reaching on a fielder's choice and Tom Osenbach (Newtown Square, Pa./West Chester Christian) followed with an RBI double to make the score 7-5.

Matt Masi (West Chester, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) drove in Trainor with a one-out base hit, but Dan Vanderslice retired the final two batters he faced to halt Brandywine's comeback bid.

McMenamin and Osenbach, two of the eight seniors on Brandywine's roster, both recorded two hits during their final collegiate games, while Masi also tallied a pair of knocks.

Brian Bosco (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) suffered the loss on the mound for Brandywine after allowing six runs (five earned) and striking out two in 5 2/3 innings. Bosco won a career-high five games in 2016.

Nate Forwood (Wilmington, Del./Mt. Pleasant) went the final 1 1/3 innings on the mound. Forwood, who struck out one, completed the season having allowed zero earned runs in 17.0 innings (11 appearances).

Brandywine finished the 2016 season with a record of 22-17.