Brandywine Wins Two On Final Day Of Spring Break Trip

LEESBURG, Fla. – The Penn State Brandywine softball team closed out its week-long Spring Break trip with a pair of wins Wednesday afternoon as the Lions defeated Elms College 14-1 in five innings and topped Emmanuel College 8-7 in eight innings.

Game One: Penn State Brandywine 14, Elms 1

Brandywine needed just seven hits to score 14 times in a 14-1, five-inning rout against Elms College.

Lexi Bussenger (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) singled, stole second and scored on Payton Landis' (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) sacrifice fly to open the scoring in the first inning. Meghan Ferry (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester City) later scored via passed ball to make the count 2-0 through one frame.

The Lions added three more runs in the second, highlighted by consecutive run-scoring singles from Bussenger, Ferry and Kaylee Mushinski (Allentown, N.J./Allentown), before blowing the game open with seven runs in the third.

Jess James (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) doubled in two runs, while Ferry and Emily Reagan (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) each drove in a run with a base hit. Two more runs crossed home via error and Mushinski scored thanks to a wild pitch.

Bussenger and Ferry both recorded two hits, three runs scored and two stolen bases, while James tallied three RBI and Mushinski knocked in two runs.

April Lewandowski (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) earned the win in the circle after holding Elms to one run on six hits and striking out two in 4.0 innings. Isabella Hurta (Colts Neck, N.J./Red Bank Catholic) spun a scoreless fifth inning, fanning two.

Game Two: Penn State Brandywine 8, Emmanuel 7

Brandywine let a seven-run lead slip away, but an eighth-inning miscue by Elms allowed Brandywine to escape with an 8-7 triumph.

A throwing error following James' sacrifice bunt allowed Reagan to score what proved to be the game-winning run during the top of the eighth inning. With a runner on second base, Hurta retired three-straight batters during the bottom of the frame to close out the game and earn her first collegiate victory.

Hurta fired the final 3.0 innings, allowing one run on one hit, while Crystal Cassario (Levittown, Pa./Pennsbury) fanned four and yielded three earned runs during the first 3.1 frames. Maddie DeFazio (Fairless Hills, Pa./Pennsbury) recorded one strikeout and surrendered one earned run over 1.2 innings in the circle.

Brandywine took a 1-0 lead when Mushinski tripled in Ferry during the first inning. After a Ferry RBI single in the second, Mushinski came up with the bases full and smashed a grand slam over the left field fence, making the count 6-0.

The Lions tacked on a seventh run in the third as James and Bussenger executed a double steal with James swiping home.

Cassario carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning, but the Saints struck for four runs on four hits to close the gap to 7-4. Emmanuel added two more runs in the fifth before tying the score at 7-7 in the seventh.

Mushinski was 2-for-5 with five RBI, while Bussenger had two hits and stole two bases. Ferry and Reagan both scored a pair of runs.

Brandywine (5-3) returns home to host Central Maine on Tuesday at 3:00 PM.