Fiona Warren
Fiona Warren

Brandywine Holds Off Schuylkill In PSUAC First Round

ASTON, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine took advantage of six Penn State Schuylkill errors and used timely hitting, scoring all of its runs with two outs, as the second-seeded Lions posted a 5-3 triumph during the opening round of the Penn State University Athletic Conference Softball Tournament on Friday morning.

Brandywine, the four-time defending conference champion, built a 4-0 lead through four innings, but needed to stave off a late Schuylkill rally after the visitors cut the lead in half during the fifth inning. Schuylkill pieced together three-straight singles with two outs in the seventh to creep one run closer, but Cara Fabiano (Bristol, Pa./Bristol) struck out Alexis Bowser to end the game and send Brandywine to the next round of the tournament.

The strikeout was the fourth of the day for Faibano, who went all seven innings to win her 10th decision of the spring. She carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning before Schuylkill got on the board with three hits, pushing two runs across.

A pair of Schuylkill errors with two outs extended the second inning, allowing Brandywine to push across its first two runs. Maddie Malfara (Ardsley, Pa./Abington) legged out an infield single that scored a run and a Schuylkill throwing error allowed the second runner to cross home.

The Lions struck again with two outs one inning later. Morgan Meoli (Woolwich Twp., N.J./Kingsway Regional) got the rally started with a base hit and came around to score on Fiona Warren's (Schwenksville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) double in the right-center field gap. Haley Grossi (Monmouth Junction, N.J./South Brunswick) followed with a run-scoring base hit, upping the margin to 4-0.

Arianna Segich (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City) added an insurance run in the sixth for the Lions as she reached on a bunt single, stole second and scored following a pair of Schuylkill miscues.

Seven players accounted for Brandywine's eight hits. Alexandra Szpindor (Pottstown, Pa./Pope John Paul II) posted a pair of knocks for the Lions.

Brandywine (20-16), which has now won 13-straight conference tournament games, will face the top seed from the West Division, Penn State Beaver, at 1:00 pm on Sunday, May 5 at Heindl Field in DuBois.