Brandywine Earns Two Six-Run Victories Over Mont Alto

MEDIA, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine pulled away late in both games to send Penn State Mont Alto, the No. 1 ranked team in the USCAA, to its first two Penn State University Athletic Conference softball defeats Thursday evening. The Lions won game one 7-1 and claimed the nightcap 8-2.

Game One: Penn State Brandywine 7, Penn State Mont Alto 1

The teams entered the bottom of the fifth inning tied at 1-1, but Brandywine struck for two runs and added four more markers one frame later to claim the opener.

Kaylee Mushinski (Allentown, N.J./Allentown) started a two-out rally in the first inning with a double and came around to score on Payton Landis' (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) base hit to give Brandywine a 1-0 edge.

After Mont Alto evened the count with an unearned run in the fifth, Brandywine took the lead with two runs during the bottom of the frame. Lexi Bussenger (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) worked a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on Mushinski's single. Following a base hit from Landis, Karly Rees (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) delivered Brandywine's third consecutive single, scoring Mushinski.

Brandywine put the game away in the sixth by tacking on four more runs. The big blow during the inning came off the bat of Meghan Ferry (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester City), who launched a three-run home run, her third long ball of the season.

Ferry and Landis both recorded two hits, while Mushinski was 3-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI. Bussenger scored twice and stole a base.

Crystal Cassario (Levittown, Pa./Pennsbury) went the distance in the circle to earn her fourth win of the season. She did not allow an earned run and limited Mont Alto to just three hits. Cassario recorded back-to-back strikeouts to work out of a first inning jam and allowed just three base runners the rest of the way.

Game Two: Penn State Brandywine 8, Penn State Mont Alto 2

Brandywine put up a crooked number once again during the fifth inning to run away with an 8-2 victory in game two.

Ferry tripled and scored on Mushinski's squeeze bunt to push across the game's first run in the third inning.

Mont Alto tied the score in the fifth, but Brandywine immediately answered with six runs during the bottom of the frame. Ferry singled in Becky Valente (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) and Mushinski followed with a three-run home run over the left field fence. Valente and Bussenger later legged out consecutive infield singles with the bases loaded to add two more runs.

Bussenger, Ferry, Rees and Anna Caporale (Westampton, N.J./Rancocas Valley Regional) all had two hits in the nightcap, while Mushinski drove in four runs.

Bussenger's two hits extended her hitting streak to a Brandywine record 19-straight games dating back to last season. Bussenger surpassed Rachel Cherubini's previous team benchmark of 18-straight games with a hit set during the 2018 season.

April Lewandowski (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) recorded her fifth victory of the season. Lewandowski pitched six innings, scattered six hits and allowed one unearned run, while striking out one.

Brandywine (13-5, 6-0 PSUAC) has a quick turnaround as the Lions travel to Penn State DuBois Friday for a 2:00 PM doubleheader.