Alexandra Szpindor
Alexandra Szpindor

Lions Drop Two At King's

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine fell in extra innings in game one by a score of 5-4 and King's College (Pa.) completed the non-conference softball sweep by winning the nightcap 7-3 on Tuesday afternoon.

Game One: King's 5, Penn State Brandywine 4

Brandywine dropped a heart breaker in game one, falling in nine innings by a score of 5-4. After the Lions took the lead in the top of the ninth, Mindina Lieback delivered a two-run double with two outs as Brandywine suffered its third walk-off loss of the season.

Brandywine had taken the lead in the top of the ninth inning when Nikki Velez's (Gloucester, N.J./Gloucester City) sacrifice fly was deep enough to left field to allow Cara Fabiano (Bristol, Pa./Bristol) to score from third.

The Lions led 1-0 in the first as Arianna Segich (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City) reached on an error, stole two bases and scored on Alexandra Szpindor's (Pottstown, Pa./Pope John Paul II) groundout.

After King's evened the game at 1-1, the Lions added two third-inning scores to build a 3-1 edge. Szpindor pushed Velez across the plate with a long double to the wall and then came around to score on a base hit by Morgan Meoli (Woolwich Twp., N.J./Kingsway Regional).

The Monarchs got one run closer in the fourth inning and then plated an unearned run during the bottom of the sixth to send the game to extra innings.

Meoli and Szpindor both record two hits at the plate to lead the Brandywine offense, which totaled six knocks overall. Szpindor also went all 8.2 innings in the circle, striking out four, while allowing four earned runs.

Game Two: King's 7, Penn State Brandywine 3

Alyssa Sullivan (Pennsburg, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) paced the Lions' offense in game two, collecting two doubles and a single in four at-bats, but Brandywine was defeated 7-3 during the nightcap. Sullivan drove in all three runs, recording a two-run double in the first and another run-scoring two-base hit two frames later.

After Sullivan's two-bagger scored Segich and Rachel Cherubini (Pottstown, Pa./Pottsgrove), King's countered with four runs during its half of the first inning. Szpindor walked with one out and came around to score to make the score 4-3 in the third, but the Monarchs again had an answer, plating two runs in the bottom of the inning.

Brandywine's offense produced eight hits in game two as five players collected knocks in addition to Sullivan's three hits. Fabiano took the loss in the circle after going the distance, surrendering seven runs (five earned) on 11 hits.

Brandywine (3-11, 2-0 PSUAC) travels to Franklin & Marshall for a doubleheader Thursday beginning at 3:00 pm.