Cherubini’s Walk-Off Single Sends Brandywine Back To PSUAC Title Game

DUBOIS, Pa. – Rachel Cherubini's (Pottstown, Pa./Pottsgrove) third two-out hit of the day was a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning as top-seeded Penn State Brandywine rallied to beat Penn State DuBois 3-2 and advance to the championship round of the Penn State University Athletic Conference Softball Tournament on Monday afternoon. Earlier in the day, Brandywine routed Penn State New Kensington, 9-1, in its tournament opener.

Game Two: Penn State Brandywine 3, Penn State DuBois 2

Haley Grossi (Monmouth Junction, N.J./South Brunswick) set the stage for the final inning by sliding in under a tag at third base for a leadoff triple. She scored one batter later as Lianna DeDios (Elmwood Park, N.J./Memorial) laid down a squeeze bunt, tying the score at 2-2.

After a lineout and Farrell Everett's (Wynnewood, Pa./Haverford) sacrifice bunt left DeDios at second base with two outs, Cherubini drilled the first pitch she saw through the middle to send DeDios home with the winning run.

Brandywine, now a winner of 16-straight conference tournament games, will play Tuesday morning for its sixth-straight championship.

The Lions faced a 2-0 deficit through three innings against PSUAC Pitcher of the Year Lizzy Scott, but got on the board for the first time in the fourth inning. Meghan Ferry (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester City) led off with a double and came around to score on Payton Landis' (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) two-base hit to make the count 2-1.

Landis collected two of Brandywine's six hits, while Rebecca Sorrentino (Clifton Heights, Pa./Upper Darby) struck out five to earn her ninth win of the season. Sorrentino yielded two first inning runs, but shut down the DuBois offense the rest of the way as she claimed her third victory over DuBois this spring.

Brandywine will face the winner of the Penn State DuBois-Penn State Mont Alto game Tuesday at 9:30 am in the PSUAC Championship.

Game One: Penn State Brandywine 9, Penn State New Kensington 1 (Five innings)

Brandywine scored in every inning and rolled to a 9-1 victory, its 15^th-straight PSUAC Tournament win, in the day's opening game.

Cherubini, Moore and Destiny Brophy (Bristol, Pa./Bristol) all tallied two hits for the Lions. Cherubini drove in five runs, while Brophy and DeDios both scored twice.

Rebecca Halford (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) came within one out of throwing her eighth shutout of the season, but allowed just one unearned run. She earned her ninth victory by striking out six and scattering five hits over 5.0 innings.

Ferry got the offense started with a one-out, solo home run in the first inning, her team-leading fourth of the year.

One inning later, Cherubini's two-out triple cleared the bases, upping the lead to 4-0. Landis added a third inning double that scored Brophy and Moore tallied a run-scoring single before Cherubini tacked on two more RBI with a two-out double.

Brophy circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run in the fourth inning to complete the scoring for Brandywine.