Brandywine Drops Two One-Run Decisions At Widener

CHESTER, Pennsylvania -- Penn State Brandywine rallied from eight runs down to take the lead, but Widener forced extra innings and held on for a wild, 12-11 triumph in nine innings during the teams' softball doubleheader opener on Thursday afternoon. The Pride clipped the Lions 2-1 in game two.

After trailing 8-0 through four innings in the opener, Brandywine stormed back, eventually taking a 9-8 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning.

Cheyenne Murphy (Boothwyn, Pa./Chichester) singled to lead off the fifth and scored on Julia Allman's (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown) base hit to start the Lions' comeback.

Brandywine sent 11 players to the plate, scoring eight times in the sixth, to grab a one-run lead. Katy Steffen (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) opened the frame with a double and advanced to third when Lauryn Geduldick (Barnegat, N.J./Barnegat) singled. Danielle Spina (Thornton, Pa./Garnet Valley) drove in both runners with a double and then scored following a Widener error. Alexa Iacono (Wilmington, Del./Concord) made the score 8-5 with an RBI base hit, while Robyn Gannon's (Lansdowne, Pa./Archibishop Prendergast) two-run double brought Brandywine within one. Steffen came to bat for the second time in the inning and smashed a two-out, two-run home run over the left field fence to put the Lions in front.

However, the Pride sent the game to extra innings with a run in the sixth.

Iacono's run-scoring single helped Brandywine retake the lead in the eighth and Gannon added to the Lions' cushion with a double that plated Iacono. Widener answered with a pair of runs during the bottom of the frame, tying the score at 11-11 after Carissa Harris' two-out RBI single.

Brandywine put runners on second and third with no outs in the ninth, but was unable to push across a run. During the bottom of the inning, Katie Sterling reached on a fielder's choice and, after advancing to second, raced home with the winning run following a wild pitch.

The Pride held a 1-0 lead after three innings in game two, but Brandywine tied the game with a fourth-inning score. Gannon led off the frame with a double and, two batters later, crossed home on Geduldick's ground out.

Widener retook the lead in the fifth when Ally Horvath's triple pushed Angela Hood across the plate. Brandywine put runners on base during its final two at-bats, but could not find the tying run.

Gannon recorded a pair of two-hit games, knocked in three, while scoring twice during the twinbill. Spina, Steffen and Lindsey Dellavecchio (Ridley Park, Pa./Interboro) all added three hits and Iacono and Murphy both tallied a pair of knocks and scored twice.

Horvath tossed a complete game, fanning eight, to pick up the win in game two, while Alexis Schengrund struck out 18 and earned the win in game one for the Pride. Spina took the loss in both games for the Lions, dropping her record to 9-3 this spring. Spina struck out seven in 14.2 innings.

Brandywine (17-8) hosts Penn State-Scranton Sunday at 2:00 pm during its final home games of the season.