Brandywine Advances In PSUAC Tournament; Cassario Joins 100-Hit Club

ASTON, Pa. -- Crystal Cassario (Levittown, Pa./Pennsbury) spun a three-hit shutout and became the 15th player in program history with 100 career hits to lead the top-seeded Penn State Brandywine softball team to a 3-0 victory over No. 4 Penn State Schuylkill in the first round of the Penn State University Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon.

Cassario yielded just three hits, all singles, and did not walk a batter, while registering three strikeouts to earn her 11th victory of the season. She blanked Schuylkill for the second time this spring and for the second consecutive year in the opening round of the PSUAC Tournament.

At the plate, Cassario registered the Lions' first hit of the afternoon, an infield single in the third, for the 100th hit of her career in her 100th game. She is the Lions' fifth player to reach triple digits in knocks this season.

Brandywine got on the board for the first time during the third inning, striking for a pair of runs. Kaylee Mushinski's (Allentown, N.J./Allentown) ground ball with the bases loaded allowed Emily Reagan (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) to score, while Naya Rivera (Mays Landing, N.J./Oakcrest) crossed home via error for a 2-0 Brandywine edge.

The Lions added an insurance run two frames later when Lexi Bussenger (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) singled, stole second and later scored on Mushinski's sacrifice fly.

Reagan produced two of Brandywine's six hits, while Bussenger extended her hitting streak to 40-straight games and stole a base for the 60th time this spring.

Brandywine (31-8) faces Schulkill again Saturday at noon at West Chester Rustin High School with a bid to the PSUAC Championship on the line.