Brandywine Drops World Series Opener To MUW

DUBOIS, Pa. – Four two-out runs in the top of the seventh inning were the difference as six-seeded Mississippi University for Women upset No. 3 Penn State Brandywine 5-1 during the teams' opening game of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Softball World Series on Tuesday morning.

Brandywine will now face Penn State DuBois for the sixth time this season in an elimination game at 1:00 PM Tuesday. The Lions are 4-1 against DuBois, including a 2-0 mark at Heindl Field, in 2022.

Jessica Deming led off with a triple and scored on a two-base hit by Megan Cummings to give the Owls a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning; however, Crystal Cassario (Levittown, Pa./Pennsbury) limited MUW to just two hits over the next five innings and Brandywine evened the count in the fifth.

Farrell Everett (Wynnewood, Pa./Haverford) led off the fifth inning with a base hit and pinch-runner Kassidy Hoffman (Fallsington, Pa./Pennsbury) moved to second on Jess James' (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) single. Two batters later, Payton Landis (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) singled through the left side to score Hoffman with the tying run.

Deming came through in the seventh inning for the Owls with a grand slam to give MUW the lead with two outs.

Amelia Stalter struck out 12 and earned the win for MUW, while Cassario took the loss despite allowing just one earned run on five hits. Cassario tallied a pair of strikeouts.

At the plate, Karly Rees (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) recorded a single and a double for two of Brandywine's seven knocks.