Brandywine Comeback Bid Falls Short

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Penn State Brandywine's bid for a comeback victory came up two runs short as the Lions fell 12-10 to Cornell (Iowa) at the RussMatt Baseball Invitational on Tuesday night.

Brandywine trailed 12-6 in the top of the eighth inning, but sent nine men to the plate, pushing across four runs. David Kursman (Pennsauken, N.J./Pennsauken) led off the eighth with a base hit and after two walks loaded the bases, Nate Romberger (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen School) worked a base on balls to force in a run. Miguel Rodriguez (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) followed with a single, his fourth of the night, to add another run before Ryan Brown (Bensalem, Pa./Bensalem) tacked on a two-out, two-run single to make the count 12-10.

The Lions brought the game-winning run to the plate with two outs in the ninth inning, but the Rams' Thomas Hunt got a strikeout to end the contest.

In addition to Rodriguez's four-hit effort, Kursman and Jason Hankins (Chichester, Pa./Chichester) both tallied three hits. Dan Rohlsen (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) was 2-for-4 with two runs and a pair of stolen bases, while Ryan Snyder (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley) worked four walks.

Brandywine fell behind 2-0 before taking a 3-2 lead in the third thanks to run-scoring singles from Kursman and Rohlsen. Cornell scored seven of the game's next eight runs and answered a two-run Brandywine sixth inning with a pair of markers during the bottom of the frame. The Rams added one more score in the seventh to make the count 12-6.

Brandywine (4-5) continues play at the RussMatt Invitational Wednesday against Albertus Magnus at 10:45 AM.