Brandywine Looks To Defend Title At PSUAC Tournament

MEDIA, Pennsylvania -- Reigning PSUAC champion Penn State Brandywins aims for its second consecutive league title when the top-seeded Lions begin the conference tournament Saturday night in Hazleton, Pa.

Brandywine won the regular season crown after finishing with 12 wins in 13 conference games, earning the No. 1 seed for the second time in the three-year history of the team. The Lions own a 30-1 record against PSUAC competition during the last two seasons.

After earning the top seed, Brandywine received a bye to the second round and will face the winner of the No. 4 Penn State Mont Alto - No. 5 Penn State Scranton game on Saturday night at 8:00 pm. The double elimination tournament continues through Monday's championship game, which is slated to begin at 11:00 am.

Brandywine hitters batted .393, while its pitchers posted a 3.01 earned run average in 13 league games, both of which are the top marks in the conference. Steph Harvey leads the team with a .427 batting average, while Arianna Segich has posted 27 RBI and 25 stolen bases. Six players have driven in at least 20 runs this spring. Brandywine also features three of the top pitchers in the conference in Olivia Encarnacion, Grace DeRosa and 2015 PSUAC Pitcher of the Year Katie DeStefano.

Penn State Hazleton, the host school, will be the No. 2 seed and has also earned a bye into the second round. Brandywine and Hazleton split two regular season games this spring at Hazleton. Brandywine took all four meetings, including the PSUAC Championship game, from Hazleton last year.

Penn State Beaver is the No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 Penn State Schuylkill in Saturday's additional opening round game.