MONT ALTO, Pennsylvania -- Freshman Katie DeStefano (Kennett Square, Pa./Kennett) tossed a one-hit shutout and the Lions' offense supplied 24 runs as the Penn State Brandywine softball team swept Penn State Mont Alto in its PSUAC-opening doubleheader Sunday afternoon. Brandywine took the opener 9-0 before rallying for a 15-8 victory in the nightcap.
DeStefano dominated Mont Alto, striking out 12 batters in 5.0 innings, while allowing just one hit and three total base runners.
She struck out the side during the second and third innings and fanned eight-straight batters between the first and fourth frames. Her 12 strikeouts are the second-highest total in the two-year history of the softball program at Penn State Brandywine.
Brandywine scored four times during the first inning and tacked on five more in the fifth to run away with game one. Julia Allman (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown) delivered a bases-clearing double during the first inning and Katy Steffen (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown) added a three-run double in the fifth.
Allman went 2-for-3 at the plate with four RBI, while Steffen and Lindsey Dellavecchio (Ridley Park, Pa./Interboro) both scored two runs.
The Lions trailed 3-0 after three innings of game two, but exploded for six runs in the fourth. Allman knocked in two with a double, while DeStefano, Dellavecchio, Robyn Gannon (Landsdowne, Pa./Archbishop Prendergast) and Lauryn Geduldick (Barnegat, N.J./Barnegat) also adding RBI during the inning.
Mont Alto answered with two scores, but Steffen's two-out, pinch-hit, three-run home run gave Brandywine a four-run cushion in the fifth.
The Lions added breathing room in the seventh by tacking on six more runs. Steffen, Geduldick, and DeStefano all recorded run-scoring singles and Julie Foeldes (Kendall Park, N.J./Sotuh Brunswick) plated two with a double.
Gannon, Foeldes and Allman all recorded three hits and drove in two. Allman also scored three times, while Geduldick and Gannon crossed home twice.
Danielle Spina (Thornton, Pa./Garnett Valley) upped her record to 3-1 this spring after striking out eight in five-plus innings of work. DeStefano worked out of a sixth-inning jam and pitched the final two frames to pick up her first save.
The Lions (4-5, 2-0) visit the University of Valley Forge Tuesday for a 3:00 pm doubleheader.
