Brandywine Plays To Split With Franklin & Marshall

ASTON, Pa. – Penn State Brandywine and Franklin & Marshall split a non-conference softball doubleheader on Tuesday as the Lions blanked the Diplomats 2-0 in game one, but the visitors rallied to claim the nightcap by a 3-2 count on Thursday afternoon.

Game One: Penn State Brandywine 2, Franklin & Marshall 0

April Lewandowski (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) spun her second shutout of the spring, limiting the Diplomats to just a pair of singles over seven innings. She carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning before surrendering two hits, but avoided trouble by getting a strikeout and a groundout back to the circle to end the frame.

Brandywine put its first run on the board during the bottom of the fourth. Ava Craddock (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) was issued a leadoff walk and came around to score two batters later when Naya Rivera (Mays Landing, N.J./Oakcrest) laced a double into the right-center field gap.

Another leadoff walk, this time worked by Gigi Duca (Bear, Del./Smyrna), led to the Lions adding an insurance run in the fifth. Lexi Bussenger (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) followed Duca's walk with a bunt single and one batter later, Duca crossed home via Emma McElroy's (Mountainside, N.J./Governor Livingston) sacrifice fly.

Two runs were more than enough for Lewandowski, who worked around a pair of seventh inning errors to get a line drive double play to end the game, upping her record this spring to 5-1.

Game Two: Franklin & Marshall 3, Penn State Brandywine 2

Brandywine held a two-run lead, but F&M scored three times during the seventh inning to claim the doubleheader split.

The Diplomats recorded three hits in the seventh inning against Brandywine starter Isabella Hurta (Colts Neck, N.J./Red Bank Catholic) to score three times. The big blow came off the bat of Grace Header, who gave the Diplomats the lead with a bases-clearing double.

Brandywine opened the scoring in the first inning as McElroy singled, swiped second and scored on Shelby DeCillis' (Iselin, N.J./Colonia) base hit.

After Bussenger singled to open the sixth inning, the duo of McElroy and DeCillis helped the Lions add a second run. McElroy singled, moving Bussenger to third, before DeCillis dropped down a squeeze bunt that allowed Bussenger to cross home.

McElroy had three of Brandywine's five hits and stole three bases, while Hurta went 6.1 innings, striking out three and allowing three runs on nine hits in the circle.

Brandywine (8-4) visits Haverford Tuesday at 3:00 PM for its first road games of the spring.