Brandywine Claims Two Victories Over Berks

MEDIA, Pa. -- The Penn State Brandywine baseball team earned a non-conference doubleheader sweep of Penn State Berks, winning by scores of 12-6 and 7-5 at Maple Zone on Tuesday night.

Game One: Penn State Brandywine 12, Penn State Berks 6

An eight-run fourth inning was the difference as Brandywine overcame a four-run deficit to win the opener 12-6.

Berks led 5-1 through two innings before Brandywine began its comeback trek with three runs in the third. Nick Wright (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley), who singled in Brandywine's first run in the first inning, added two more runs with a base hit in the third and then made the count 5-4 by scoring via wild pitch.

Twelve batters came to the plate for Brandywine in the fourth as the Lions pushed eight runs across on seven hits. Ryan Snyder (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley) tied the game with an RBI single and Cam Baughman (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) pushed the go-ahead run across after working a bases-loaded walk. Brandywine continued to pile on as Evan Abegg (Commerce City, Colo./Prairie View) and Shawn Webb (Drexel Hill, Pa./Bonner-Prendie) recorded run-scoring singles and Wright and Kyle Oechsle (Coopersburg, Pa./Palisades) drove in runs with two-base hits.

Brandywine finished with 13 hits led by a three-hit effort from Wright. Oechsle, Snyder and Toby Skeans (Stevensville, Md./Kent Island) all tallied two hits.

Tim Cohen (Chester Springs, Pa./Downingtown East) earned the victory after tossing two scoreless innings on the mound. Matt Brucato (Jamesburg, N.J./Monroe Township) also tossed two scoreless innings, while Ty Coccia (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East) retired the final three batters, recording one strikeout.

Game Two: Penn State Brandywine 7, Penn State Berks 5

Brandywine scored twice during its final at-bat to secure the sweep.

Baughman doubled and scored on an error, while Abegg walked and crossed home via wild pitch to give Brandywine a 2-0 lead through one inning.

Berks scored runs during the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but Brandywine answered with runs during the bottom of each frame.

The Lions countered Berks' two fourth inning runs with back-to-back, two-out RBI singles from Snyder and Max Tavarez (Woodbridge, N.J./Woodbridge) to jump back in front 4-2.

Berks plated an unearned run in the fifth, but Brandywine responded as Wright walked and scored on a single from Ryan Brown (Bensalem, Pa./Bensalem).

The visitors took advantage of two Brandywine errors to tie the score in the sixth; however, Brandywine plated two runs during the bottom of the sixth to take the lead for good. Skeans led off with a walk and scored three batters later on Baughman's double. Abegg followed with a base hit, scoring Baughman with an insurance run.

Baughman, Abegg, Brown and Snyder all tallied two hits for the Lions, who collected 11 overall in game two.

Skeans was the winning pitcher after striking out two and allowing one run in the sixth inning. Connor Thompson (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) recorded all three outs via strikeout in the seventh to earn the save. Michael Govan (Newtown Square, Pa./Marple Newtown) and Abel Bartosek (Fort Worth, Texas./Chisholm Trail) both collected three strikeouts in two innings and Brown fanned two in one inning as five Brandywine pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts.

Brandywine (21-11, 9-3 PSUAC) opens its final PSUAC series of the year Friday against Penn State York (4:00 PM).