Brandywine Secures PSUAC Tournament No. 1 Seed In Sweep

SCHUYLKILL HAVEN, Pa. -- The Penn State Brandywine softball team will be the No. 1 seed when the Penn State University Athletic Conference Tournament begins next week after wrapping up its conference slate with a two-game sweep of Penn State Schuylkill on Saturday. Brandywine posted a 10-2 victory in the opener and won game two 4-0.

Game One: Penn State Brandywine 10, Penn State Schuylkill 2

Brandywine put seven runs on the board during the first two innings and cruised to a game one victory, winning 10-2.

After recording nine hits Friday afternoon, Lexi Bussenger (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) picked up where she left off, reaching base safely four times as she recorded three hits and worked a walk. Bussenger scored four of the Lions' runs and stole a base, while Payton Landis (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) was 4-for-4 at the plate with two RBI. Emily Reagan (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) and Karly Rees (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) both collected two hits and Kaylee Mushinski (Allentown, N.J./Allentown) drove in three runs.

Bussenger singled and scored on Mushinski's double to begin a four-run first inning for Brandywine. Landis followed with a base hit that pushed Mushinski across, while Crystal Cassario (Levittown, Pa./Pennsbury) and Farrell Everett (Wynnewood, Pa./Haverford) both added two-out hits that scored runs.

Three more runs scored in the second as Bussenger and Reagan recorded back-to-back doubles to score a run and Landis added an RBI single. Naya Rivera (Mays Landing, N.J./Oakcrest) stole third and scored via throwing error to up the lead to 7-1.

Sacrifice flies from Mushinski and Rees added two runs to the board in the fourth and Brandywine ended the game in the sixth by run rule, pushing its lead to eight when Mushinski's ground ball scored Bussenger.

Cassario recorded a hit and an RBI, while also earning the win in the circle. She claimed her seventh victory of the spring after striking out two and allowing two runs on eight hits in six innings of work.

Game Two: Penn State Brandywine 4, Penn State Schuylkill 0

April Lewandowski (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) fired her third complete-game shutout of the season to lead Brandywine to a 4-0 victory in game two, helping the Lions clinch the PSUAC regular-season title.

Lewandowski limited the Schuylkill offense to just four singles, while striking out three. Only one Schuylkill base runner reached second base against Lewandowski and she was quickley erased on the base paths. After the Brandywine offense built her a four-run lead, Lewandowski retired the final 11 batters she faced.

Offensively, Rees totaled three hits, while Gianna Casale (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert), Lianna DeDios (Elmwood Park, N.J./Elmwood Park Memorial) and Bussenger all tallied two hits.

Mushinski scored the first two runs for the Lions. She singled and crossed home via wild pitch in the first and scored on a Rees base hit in the third after reaching safely following a Schuylkill error. Mushinski's ground ball pushed DeDios across for a 3-0 lead in the fourth before Casale collected an RBI single that plated Rees with the Lions' final run in the fifth. 

Brandywine (28-8, 16-2 PSUAC) plays its final regular-season games on Tuesday at Immaculata beginning at 3:00 PM.