Brandywine Sweeps Bluffton And Bethany; Improves To 5-1

CLERMONT, Fla. – The Penn State Brandywine softball team earned a pair of victories Tuesday as the Lions defeated Bluffton University 5-2 and Bethany College (W.Va.) 9-5 to up their record to 5-1 this spring.

Game One: Penn State Brandywine 5, Bluffton 2

Brandywine quickly erased a two-run deficit and used the long ball to claim the opener.

Bluffton plated a pair of unearned runs to take a 2-0 lead in the third inning, but Brandywine responded with a two-spot during the bottom of the frame. Gianna Terpolilli (Hammonton, N.J./Our Lady of Mercy Academy) started the inning with a single and moved to third when Crystal Cassario (Levittown, Pa./Pennsbury) recorded a one-out base hit. Both runners came around to score on a single from Karly Rees (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) to knot the count at 2-2.

Terpolilli got another rally started in the fifth as she singled to open the frame. Meghan Ferry (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester City) followed with a base hit to put two runners on base and Cassario brought everyone home with her second home run of the spring, a three-run blast over the right field fence.

Rebecca Halford (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) made the three-run lead stand up as she retired the final 13 batters she faced to earn her second win of the season. Halford allowed just two unearned runs and two hits, both singles, while recording five strikeouts in a complete game effort.

Terpolilli and Cassario both collected three-hit games and scored twice, while Rees tallied a pair of knocks.

Game Two: Penn State Brandywine 9, Bethany 5

Brandywine scored runs in six of its seven at-bats to outlast Bethany in the nightcap.

Cassario singled with two outs and scored on Payton Landis' (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) double to put Brandywine in front 1-0 in the top of the first.

Bethany answered with a first inning run, but the Lions retook the lead in the third when Cassario singled in Terpolilli, who had walked to begin the inning.

Once again, the Bison responded with a run in the bottom of the inning and again, Brandywine jumped back into the lead in the fourth as Jess James (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) launched a her first collegiate home run, a solo blast, over the center field fence.

Ferry doubled and scored via wild pitch to up the Lions' lead to 4-2 in the fifth; however, Bethany evened the score for the third time during the bottom of the frame.

Brandywine took the lead for good in the sixth when James walked and later crossed home thanks to a Bethany wild pitch. James aided a four-run rally one inning later by delivering a two-run single, while Destiny Brophy (Bristol, Pa./Bristol) added a run-scoring single and scored on Zoey Lineman's (West Deptford, N.J./GCIT) groundout.

Brophy collected three hits in four at-bats, while James was 2-for-2 with three RBI and two runs scored and Landis recorded a pair of hits.

Cassario added two more knocks for a five-hit day and was the winning pitcher. She allowed five runs (four earned) in 7.0 innings of work to improve to 3-0.

Brandywine closes out its Spring Break trip Wednesday with games against Misericordia (1:45 PM) and Mount Mary (6:10 PM).