Lions Take First Two Games From Schuylkill

ASTON, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine got Penn State University Athletic Conference baseball action started on a high note Monday evening, claiming two victories over Eastern Division rival Penn State Schuylkill. The Lions rolled 12-3 in game one before edging Schuylkill 9-8 in game two.

In the opener, Schuylkill used a second-inning sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead, but Brandywine answered with a pair of runs in the third inning. Joey Buoni's (Chester Heights, Pa./Salesianum) sacrifice fly knotted the score, while Tommy Crumlish (Upper Darby, Pa./Monsignor Bonner) plated Matt Masi (West Chester, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) with a base hit to push Brandywine in front.

After Schuylkill scored a pair of unearned runs in the fourth, Masi countered for Brandywine by sending his fifth home run of the year, a three-run shot, over the left field fence, giving Brandywine the lead for good.

The Lions pulled away by scoring four times in the fifth and three more times one frame later. Chris Skahill (Media, Pa./Penncrest) and Robert Spitaletta (Glen Ridge, N.J./Glen Ridge) both tallied two-run singles in the fifth, while Crumlish and Brett Sheeran (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) added run-scoring hits in the sixth.

Crumlish finished 3-for-4 at the plate, while Spitaletta, Masi and Skahill all tallied two hits and two RBI. Kevin Sessa (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) went the distance on the mound to even his record at 2-2. He struck out one and limited Schuylkill to three unearned runs on three hits.

Game two went back-and-forth as each team put up crooked numbers on the scoreboard. Schuylkill struck for four first-inning runs, but Brandywine took advantage of three Schuylkill errors in the second to plate five runs.

Will Scott-Norris (Wilmington, Del./Mt. Pleasant) laced a double to left-center field, plating Crumlish with Brandywine's first run. A Schuylkill error allowed Scott-Norris to score, while Spitaletta and Sheeran both collected run-scoring hits to cap the rally.

Two Brandywine miscues helped Schuylkill put three more runs on the board in the fifth, but Brandywine responded during the bottom of the frame with three runs of its own. Masi led off with a triple to deep center field and scored on Brian Reynolds' (Newtown Square, Pa./Marple Newtown) base hit. Three batters later, Scott-Norris used a sacrifice fly to plate Reynolds and Anthony Polanco (Long Island, N.Y./West Babylon) followed with a single, scoring Buoni to give Brandywine the lead.

Brandywine added an insurance run in the sixth on Buoni's RBI groundout to make the score 9-7 and would need that run as Schuylkill plated a run during its final at-bat and put a runner on third base with two outs, but Tyler Michaels (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley) got a flyout to Buoni to end the game.

Masi, Sheeran, Polanco and Reynolds all collected two hits during the nightcap. Sheeran also knocked in two runs, while Masi scored twice and stole a base.

Michaels claimed his first win of the season after pitching the final 2.1 innings. He struck out one and allowed one run on one hit.

Brandywine (6-10, 2-0 PSUAC) travels to Langhorne on Wednesday to face Cairn University at 3:00 pm.