Brandywine And York Split First Two Games Of Four-Game Set

ASTON, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine and Penn State York opened a four-game weekend series by splitting the first two games Friday night. Brandywine claimed game one by a 5-4 score before York rallied to win game two by an 8-7 count.

Game One: Penn State Brandywine 5, Penn State York 4

All of the scoring came during the first three innings as Brandywine clipped York 5-4 in the opener.

Brandywine answered York's first-inning run with a score during the bottom of the frame. Cam Baughman (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) doubled to lead off the inning and came around to score on Mike DeGirolamo's (Frederick, Md./Frederick) two-out base hit.

Kyle Oechsle (Coopersburg, Pa./Palisades) singled in Ryan Brown (Bensalem, Pa./Bensalem) and scored via Evan Abegg's (Commerce City, Colo./Prairie View) groundout to give Brandywine a 3-1 lead through two, but York countered with three unearned runs thanks to a pair of Brandywine errors in the third.

The Lions took the lead for good by plating two runs on four hits during the bottom of the third. DeGirolamo started the rally with a base hit and after pinch-runner Jimmy Carey (Springfield, Pa./Bonner-Prendie) moved to second via wild pitch, he came around to score the tying run on Shawn Webb's (Drexel Hill, Pa./Bonner-Prendie) single. Three batters later, Toby Skeans (Stevensville, Md./Kent Island) delivered the go-ahead run, providing a single to left that plated Webb.

Connor Thompson (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) shut down the York offense over the final four innings to earn his fourth win of the year. He went the distance, striking out four, while allowing four runs (one earned) on nine hits. Oechsle, Brown and DeGirolamo all tallied two hits to pace the Lions offensively.

Game Two: Penn State York 8, Penn State Brandywine 7

Brandywine owned a 6-1 lead, but York rallied by scoring seven runs in a three-inning span to claim a split with an 8-7 victory in game two.

Three runs scored for the Lions during the first inning as DeGirolamo drove in Abegg with a single and Brown added a two-run double. Abegg walked and came around to score on Wright's two-base hit to up the margin to 4-0 through two innings.

After York got one run back in the third, Webb crossed home via throwing error and Brown scored when Skeans lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, making the count 6-1.

The visitors scored twice in the fourth, but Brandywine answered with a Brown RBI single during the bottom half of the frame, the Lions' final run of the night.

York cut the deficit to 7-5 with two runs in the fifth before taking the lead with a three-run sixth. A two-run triple tied the game and Andrew Miller followed with a sacrifice fly to put York on top. Brandywine had a base runner during both the sixth and seventh innings, but was unable to push the tying run across.

DeGirolamo posted a three-hit game, while Brown tallied two hits and two RBI and Abegg and Wright each scored twice. Wright and Webb both tallied two hits. Ryan Snyder (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley) struck out three batters over 1.2 innings in relief.

Brandywine (22-12, 10-4 PSUAC) must defeat York twice on Saturday to earn the No. 1 seed from the PSUAC East Division. The teams meet at 2:00 PM at Shyrock Field in York, Pa.