Brandywine Grabs 1-0 Championship Series Lead

DUBOIS, Pa. – Top-seeded Penn State Brandywine claimed a 1-0 Penn State University Athletic Conference Softball Championships Series lead by defeating No. 2 Penn State Mont Alto 5-1 on Sunday afternoon at Heindl Field.

Brandywine received another stellar postseason pitching performance from Crystal Cassario (Levittown, Pa./Pennsbury), who allowed just one unearned run and scattered seven hits, while striking out four. With the victory, Cassario, who won her third postseason triumph in nine days, earned her 42^nd career victory, surpassing Katie DeStefano for the most wins in program history.

The Lions got on the board first during the opening inning as Lexi Bussenger (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) singled, advanced to third via error and crossed home following Emily Reagan's (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) base hit.

A pair of Brandywine errors allowed Mont Alto to tie the score during the third inning, but Brandywine went back in front one frame later. Jess James (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) led off with a single and Naya Rivera's (Mays Landing, N.J./Oakcrest) sacrifice bunt moved her to second. Bussenger delivered a base hit through the middle of the infield, allowing James to score the go-ahead run.

Cassario worked out of a sixth-inning jam with a strikeout to keep the count 2-1 and Brandywine tacked on three insurance runs during the bottom of the frame. James singled, stole second and came around to score on Rivera's single. An error allowed Bussenger to reach base and she and Rivera both came around to score thanks to a bloop double from Reagan.

Bussenger extended her hitting streak to 42-straight games with a pair of knocks, while Reagan and James also tallied a pair of hits. Reagan drove in three of Brandywine's five runs.

The three-game series will shift to State College on Monday morning as the teams meet at Nittany Lion Softball Field in game two at 10:00 AM. A Brandywine victory would send the Lions to their ninth-straight conference title.