Brandywine Topped By Saint Vincent, Wittenberg In Clermont

CLERMONT, Fla. – The Penn State Brandywine softball team returned to action Tuesday afternoon at the Spring Games, dropping a matchup with Saint Vincent by a 2-1 score before falling 8-5 against Wittenberg in the nightcap.

Game One: Saint Vincent 2, Penn State Brandywine 1

Saint Vincent pitcher Celia Knappenberger silenced the Lions' bats as Brandywine was held to just two hits in a 2-1 defeat Tuesday afternoon. Knappenberger struck out 11 Lions, while Cara Fabiano (Bristol, Pa./Bristol) suffered the loss for Brandywine despite allowing only two runs over seven innings. Fabiano struck out four during her second complete game of the season.

Saint Vincent took the lead, scoring a run on two hits in the third inning, but Brandywine quickly evened the score by pushing across its lone run in the fourth. Rachel Cherubini (Pottstown, Pa./Pottsgrove) reached on a Bearcat error, moved to second on a wild pitch and then stole third base. She came around to score via another SVC miscue, evening the score at 1-1.

Saint Vincent went back in front in the bottom of the fifth inning as Sydney Gurneal led off with a double and later scored on a base hit.

Brandywine threatened to even the score during its final at-bat when Nikki Velez (Gloucester, N.J./Gloucester City) extended the inning, reaching on an error, and Morgan Meoli (Woolwich Twp., N.J./Kingsway Regional) doubled down the left field line to put two runners in scoring position, but a ground out back to the circle ended the rally.

In addition to Meoli's double, Arden Rabiger (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) tallied a two-base hit in the second inning to account for Brandywine's two knocks. Rabiger reached base twice in three at-bats, working a fourth inning walk.

Game Two: Wittenberg 8, Penn State Brandywine 5

Brandywine took a 1-0 first inning lead when Arianna Segich (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City) led off with a base hit, stole second and third bases, and then scored on Cherubini's bunt single; however, the Tigers plated six runs during the first two innings to build a 6-1 edge.

The Lions battled back in the fourth inning, pushing across four runs to get within one run. Velez led off with a single, while Meoli and Segich earned bases on balls to load the bases with one. After Cherubini's groundout scored Velez, Alexandra Szpindor (Pottstown, Pa./Pope John Paul II) delivered a two-run double to left field. Two batters later, Szpindor came around to score on Alyssa Sullivan's (Pennsburg, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) base hit.

Brandywine put runners on base during each of its final three at-bats, but could not push any more runs across, while Wittenberg tacked on insurance runs in the fifth and sixth frames to provide the final margin.

Szpindor went 3-for-4 with two RBI at the plate, while Cherubini also knocked in a pair and Sullivan recorded two hits.