Brandywine Secures PSUAC East Division Title With Sweep

ASTON, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine locked up a No. 1 seed in the Penn State University Athletic Conference Softball Tournament following a road sweep at Penn State Hazleton on Saturday afternoon. The Lions claimed the opener 12-4 in six innings and rallied to win game two by a 6-3 count.

Game One: Penn State Brandywine 12, Penn State Hazleton 4 (Six innings)

Brandywine scored 12 runs on 12 hits to win the opener in six innings. Five players tallied two-hit games as the Lions plated runs in each inning except the fourth.

After Payton Landis' (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) sacrifice fly gave Brandywine a 1-0 lead, Hazleton answered with three first inning runs; however, Brandywine scored the game's next 10 runs to pull away.

Farrell Everett (Wynnewood, Pa./Haverford) singled in Haley Grossi (Monmouth Junction, N.J./South Brunswick) and scored on a wild pitch to begin a five-run second inning for the Lions. Brandywine tallied three more runs via an error, bases-loaded walk and a groundout to up the margin to 6-3.

Everett doubled to lead off the third and came around to score when Rachel Cherubini (Pottstown, Pa./Pottsville) placed a single to center field. Cherubini later crossed home on a wild pitch, the second of Brandywine's three scores in the third.

Brandywine upped the lead to eight runs in the fifth when Destiny Brophy (Bristol, Pa./Bristol) scored on Grossi's groundout and Landis crossed home following a Hazleton error. The hosts got one run back in the bottom of the frame, but Brophy's RBI single one inning later ended the game by run rule in the sixth.

Brophy and Landis both collected two hits and two RBI. Cherubini, Everett and Sarah Moore (New Holland, Pa./Pequea Valley) all added two hits each, while Cherubini scored three times.

Rebecca Sorrentino (Clifton Heights, Pa./Upper Darby) upped her record to 8-1 after pitching the first five innings. She allowed four runs and struck out two, while Rebecca Halford (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) tossed a 1-2-3 sixth inning.

Game Two: Penn State Brandywine 6, Penn State Hazleton 3

Brandywine spotted Hazleton with a 3-0 lead through four innings, but the Lions rallied with six runs during their final three at-bats to secure the sweep and officially clinch first place in the PSUAC East Division.

An RBI single from Cherubini allowed a run to score to open a three-run third inning for Brandywine. Three batters later, Landis delivered a two-out, two-run single that knotted the score at 3-3.

One frame later, Cherubini came through with another clutch two-out hit, a single that plated Grossi and Lianna DeDios (Elmwood Park, N.J./Memorial) with the go-ahead runs. Landis came around to score on a seventh inning error to up the Lions' lead to 6-3.
Cherubini and Everett both recorded their second two-hit games of the day and Cherubini added three RBI, while Landis knocked in two.

Halford scored her eighth win of the year by limiting Hazleton to three runs on seven hits, while striking out three. Hazleton plated three runs over the first three innings before Halford settled in, retiring the final eight batters she faced.

Brandywine (17-5, 17-5 PSUAC) will close out the regular season Wednesday at Penn State Scranton (2:00 pm).