Brandywine Plays To Road Split At F&M

LANCASTER, Pa. – The Penn State Brandywine softball team earned a doubleheader split at Franklin & Marshall on Tuesday as the Lions claimed the opener 3-1 and the Diplomats won the nightcap 7-6 in eight innings.

Game One: Penn State Brandywine 3, Franklin & Marshall 1

Brandywine was limited to just two hits through five innings before putting a five-hit rally together to plate all three of its runs in game one.

Lexi Bussenger (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) and Emma McElroy (Mountainside, N.J./Governor Livingston) opened the frame with back-to-back singles and two batters later, Bussenger came around to score on Ava Craddock's (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) base hit. Ava Rodgers' (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester City) two-out single plated McElroy with the go-ahead run, while Shelby DeCillis (Iselin, N.J./Colonia) added an insurance marker with a base hit.

April Lewandowski (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) made the two-run lead stand up as she retired six of the seven batters she faced over the final two frames to earn her third win of the season. Lewandowski spun her third complete game of the season, striking out four, while limiting the Diplomats to one run on seven hits.

Craddock and Rodgers led the Lions at the plate with two hits each.

Game Two: Franklin & Marshall 7, Penn State Brandywine 6

Both teams mounted late rallies in game two as F&M scored twice in the sixth to break a 3-3 tie before Brandywine reknotted the count at 5-5 with two markers in the seventh.

Bussenger and McElroy again got the rally started in the seventh inning. Bussenger reached via error and McElroy followed with a base hit to put runners on the corners with one out. Kaylee Mushinski (Allentown, N.J./Allentown) delivered a base hit through the right side of the infield to bring the Lions within one. Craddock then tied the score with a sacrifice fly that scored McElroy.

Brandywine took the lead one frame later. Rodgers started the eighth inning on second base and came around to score thanks to a DeCillis groundball, but the Diplomats' Lauren Steiner led off the bottom of the inning with a two-run home run to walk F&M off a winner.

DeCillis recorded a RBI triple and scored on Jordan DuBois' (Southampton, N.J./Seneca) single to give the Lions a 2-0 lead in the second inning, but F&M plated single runs during the second and third frames equal the count.

Rodgers scored Bussenger with a single in the fifth; however, the Diplomats plated the game's next three runs to go in front 5-3 going to the seventh inning.

Mushinski and DuBois both singled twice and Mushinski stole a base, while Bussenger singled, scored twice and swiped a base.

Brandywine (7-7) begins conference play Saturday at Penn State Berks beginning at 1:00 PM.