Lions Play To PSUAC Split At York

YORK, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine won the opener 8-4, but Penn State York rebounded to win game two 5-1 as the teams split a Penn State University Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon in the conclusion of the three-game season series.

Tommy Crumlish (Upper Darby, Pa./Monsignor Bonner), Joey Buoni (Chester Heights, Pa./Salesianum) and Matt Masi (West Chester, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) combined for nine of Brandywine's 11 hits in game one as Crumlish and Buoni both went 3-for-4 at the plate and Masi tallied two hits and stole a base.

The Lions struck for three two-out runs during the first inning, the first of its eight two-out scores during the game. Masi singled, stole second and scored on Brian Reynolds' (Newtown Square, Pa./Marple Newtown) RBI single, while Andre Pendleton (Narberth, Pa./Harriton) added a run-scoring double and came around to score via York error.

However, York answered with three runs of its own during the bottom of the frame, evening the score.

Brandywine jumped back in front in the second when Crumlish doubled in Brett Sheeran (Springfield, Pa./Springfield). The Lions added to the lead with RBI base hits from Crumlish and Masi two frames later.

York got one run back in the sixth inning, but Chris Skahill (Media, Pa./Penncrest) added two insurance runs in the seventh, driving a double to right field.

Kevin Sessa (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) defeated York for the second time in three days, striking out four, while allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits in six innings. Sessa is now 6-2 overall this spring and 5-0 against conference foes. Tyler Michaels (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley) fanned two batters during a scoreless seventh inning to shut the door on York.

Two York pitchers limited Brandywine to one unearned run on five hits in game two, while Matt Staiber (Drexel Hill, Pa./Monsignor Bonner) took the loss for Brandywine after yielding five runs (three earned) and striking out three in five innings on the mound.

Robert Spitaletta (Glen Ridge, N.J./Glen Ridge) posted a pair of singles to lead the Brandywine offense, while Reynolds' RBI groundout during the first inning scored Spitaletta to account for the lone Lions' run.

Brandywine (12-15, 8-3 PSUAC) visits Ursinus on Wednesday afternoon at 3:30 pm.