ASTON, Pa. -- The Penn State Brandywine baseball team completed a three-game sweep of Central Penn, winning both ends of a doubleheader by scores of 6-3 and 7-1 on Sunday afternoon at Maple Zone.
Game One: Penn State Brandywine 6, Central Penn 3
Joey Buoni (Chester Heights, Pa./Salesianum) allowed two runs on three hits during the first inning, but settled in, surrendering just two more hits during the next five frames on the mound for the Lions. Buoni struck out three to earn his second win of the season. Ben Mutz (Swarthmore, Pa./Strath Haven) fanned three during his inning of work.
After falling behind 2-0, Brandywine tallied single runs in three-straight innings, starting in the second when Mutz crossed home on a wild pitch, to take the lead.
Nick Kutufaris (Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) led off the third inning with a walk and after stealing second and third, scored on Joe Hurley's (Downingtown, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) groundout. One frame later, Nick Wright (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley) delivered the go-ahead hit with a two-out double, plating Tom Donahue (Ridley, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara), who had singled two batters earlier.
Buoni helped his own cause in the fifth inning, driving in Hurley and Kutufaris with a base hit through the right side, while Hayden Altimari's (Dix Hills, N.Y./St. Anthony's Prep) RBI single in the sixth added one more insurance run for the Lions.
Brandywine ran wild on the bases, stealing nine bags, including four by Kutufaris and three from Dalton Palmer (Shrewsbury, Pa./Susquehannock). Donahue tallied two of Brandywine's six hits and scored twice.
Game Two: Penn State Brandywine 7, Central Penn 1
The Lions continued to run in the second game, swiping 10 bases in 11 attempts as Kutufaris added two more steals, as did Hurley and Brian Reynolds (Newtown Square, Pa./Marple Newtown).
Reynolds' two-run single gave Brandywine a 2-0 lead during the bottom of the first inning and the Lions added a third run when Donahue crossed home via a Central Penn error.
After tacking on a score on a Kutufaris' groundout in the second, Reynolds added a sacrifice fly and Altimari singled in Donahue in the third to up the lead to 6-0.
The Knights struck for an unearned run in the fifth inning, but Brandywine got that score back in the bottom of the frame when Sean Donahue (Ridley, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) worked a bases-loaded walk.
Nick Petrella (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) dominated Central Penn hitters, allowing just one unearned run on two hits in five innings on the mound. He upped his record to 2-1 after collecting five strikeouts. Ricky Palmer (Levittown, Pa./Pennsbury) pitched a scoreless sixth, while Derek Cappadoccia (Scotch Plains, N.J./Scotch Plains) struck out the side in the seventh in relief of Petrella.
Tom Donahue had half of the Lions' six hits for a five-knock afternoon and scored two runs, while Reynolds collected three RBI.
Brandywine (8-6) opens conference play Friday afternoon at home against Penn State Schuylkill at 4:00 pm.
