Brandywine Earns No. 3 Seed; Opens USCAA World Series Play Monday

MEDIA, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine will open the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Small College Softball World Series as the No. 3 seed when play begins Monday at Heindl Field in DuBois, Pa.

Brandywine will play sixth-seeded Mississippi University for Women in the final game of the first day at 8:00 PM.

The World Series returns to its 10-team, double-elimination format for the first time since 2019 as the tournament runs from Monday-Thursday.

10 things to know entering the USCAA World Series:

Making its seventh-straight appearance at the USCAA World Series, Brandywine captured the automatic bid from the Penn State University Athletic Conference after winning its seventh consecutive league championship on Monday. The Lions defeated Hazleton 3-2 at Nittany Lion Park to sweep the PSUAC best-of-three championship series 2-0. Only Carlow (10-straight) owns a longer streak of World Series appearances than Brandywine.

Brandywine owns a five-game winning streak entering the Small College World Series. In 24 games since April 1, Brandywine posted a 21-3 record.

Brandywine's No. 3 seed matches its highest seeding at the World Series. The Lions were also the No. 3 seed during their first appearance in 2015.

Brandywine owns a school-record 32 wins this spring, easily besting the previous mark of 27 victories in 2018. The Lions are the first PSUAC team to win more than 30 games since at least 2007.

In addition to a team record for wins, a few individual, single-season records have fallen in 2022. Meghan Ferry has homered in three-straight games and now owns a USCAA-leading 10 home runs, one more than Alexa Anderson hit in 2018. Crystal Cassario struck out seven batters last week during the PSUAC Championship to set a new single-season record with 109, besting Katie DeStefano's mark of 103 from 2018.

The Lions lead all USCAA teams with 312 runs scored in 41 games played this spring. Brandywine also ranks third nationally in team ERA (2.70) and fifth in fielding percentage (.946). The Lions are the only team in the 10-squad field to rank in the top five in each category.

Brandywine is 3-0 this year at Heindl Field following a pair of victories over Penn State DuBois and one over Penn State Hazleton last week. Cassario was the winning pitcher in all three games, tossing a trio of complete games.

Monday's matchup will be the first-ever meeting between Brandywine and MUW. The Owls are making their third-straight appearance at the Small College World Series, while transitioning to NCAA Division III. MUW won 14 games this spring against a schedule comprised of NAIA and Division III opponents.

Florida National, the defending national champion, earned the No. 1 seed for the second-straight year. FNU will face the winner of the 8-9 game between Miami-Hamilton and Penn State Hazleton. No. 2 D'Youville also earned a bye in the first round and will play either No. 7 Penn State DuBois or No. 10 Carlow. Penn State Schuylkill is the No. 4 seed and faces No. 5 Central Maine in the opening round.

Brandywine has played a total of 15 games against World Series participants this spring, winning 13 of those contests. The Lions went 4-0 against both Penn State Hazleton and Central Maine, while defeating Penn State DuBois four times in five meetings and splitting a doubleheader versus Penn State Schuylkill.