Brandywine Championship Bound Following Shutout Semifinal Victory
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Salem University | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
|
Penn State Brandywine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | 1 | 7 | 0 |
DUBOIS, Pa. – For the first time in program history, Penn State Brandywine will play for a USCAA Softball World Series championship as the second-seeded Lions continued their undefeated run through the tournament field by edging Salem University (W.Va.) 1-0 on Wednesday afternoon.
After finishing in the top five at the USCAA World Series during five of its previous seven appearances, Brandywine will look to become the first softball team from the Penn State University Athletic Conference to capture a national title Thursday in DuBois, Pa.
Crystal Cassario (Levittown, Pa./Pennsbury) twirled a five-hit shutout, her third clean sheet during Brandywine's six-game postseason run and fifth overall this spring. Cassario struck out two and retired the final nine batters she faced, while limiting the Tigers to five singles.
Salem threatened to score in the first with a runner on third, but Cassario got a groundout to Jess James (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) to end the frame. She avoided any damage in the fourth by fielding a comebacker to the circle with two runners on to keep Salem off the scoreboard.
After stranding runners on base during each of the first three innings, Brandywine got all of the offense it would need in the fourth. Payton Landis (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) and Karly Rees (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) started the frame with back-to-back singles and two batters later, Cassario reached via error to load the bases. With two outs, Lianna DeDios (Elmwood Park, N.J./Elmwood Park Memorial) lined a single through the middle, scoring Rees with the game's lone run.
Brandywine collected seven hits overall, including two each from Rees and James.
Meghan Ferry's (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester City) sixth inning base hit marked the 100th of her career as she became the 10th member of the team's 100-hit club one day after taking over the Lions' all-time home run lead at 21 long balls.
Brandywine, which set team records with its 12th-straight victory and 36th overall triumph on Wednesday, will face an opponent still to be determined Thursday at 12:00 PM at Heindl Field in the national title game.
