ASTON, Pa. -- SUNY Cobleskill won game one by an 11-0 count, but the Penn State Brandywine baseball team bounced back to claim the night cap 6-4 and win three-of-four games in the weekend series between the teams on Sunday.
Game One
The opener belonged to Cobleskill, which scored four first-inning runs and plated four more scores two frames later off Brandywine starting pitcher Chris Edwards (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East). Six of the runs on Edwards' line were earned on eight hits, while he struck out three.
Four-straight batters reached base with two outs for the Fighting Tigers in the third with the big hit during the inning being a three-run triple from Anthony Disla. Cobleskill added one more run in the four and plated two runs in the fifth.
Brandywine had plenty of chances to score against Cobleskill pitcher Tim Curtis, collecting eight hits in five innings, including two knocks from Nick Wright (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley); however, the Lions were hitless in nine opprtunities with runners in scoring position and stranded nine base runners during their first setback of the season.
Game Two
Brandywine's offense got back on track during game two as the Lions pushed across six runs during the first three innings.
Sean Donahue (Ridley, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) worked a bases-loaded walk to force in a run and Wright reached on a fielder's choice that scored another, giving the Lions a 2-0 edge after one inning.
Brandywine took advantage of an error and three walks during the third inning to tack on four more runs. Brian Reynolds (Newtown Square, Pa./Marple Newtown) walked and later scored on a balk, while Jack Hedger (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) drove in Ben Mutz (Swarthmore, Pa./Strath Haven) with a base hit. After Dalton Palmer's (Shrewsbury, Pa./Susquehannock) sacrifice fly made the score 5-2, Tom Donahue (Ridley, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) capped the scoring, sending a single to left-center field that plated Joey Buoni (Chester Heights, Pa./Salesianum).
Buoni shut down the Cobleskill offense for the first five innings, yielding just one run on three hits. He ran into trouble in the sixth after five of the first six Tiger hitters reached base. With one out, Buoni induced a groundout that allowed a run to score, bringing the count to 6-4. After a pitching change, Derek Cappadoccia (Scotch Plains, N.J./Scotch Plains) got Mitchell Holmes to ground out to third base for the final out.
Mutz came on to pitch the seventh, retiring three of the four batters he faced on two groundouts and a strikeout to earn his second save in as many days.
Buoni struck out five over 5.2 innings, while allowing four runs on five hits to claim his first win.
Tom Donahue registered two of Brandywine's five hits and stole a base, while Reynolds scored twice and also collected a stolen base.
Brandywine (3-1) heads to Florida for Spring Break week at the RussMatt Invitational beginning Saturday when the Lions face Penn State Fayette in a doubleheader beginning at 4:00 pm.
