Brandywine Blanks Beaver, 8-0, in PSUAC Softball Championship

Hazleton, Pa. - With an Olivia Encarnacion shutout on the mound, the Penn State Brandywine softball team went on to overcome Penn State Beaver after five innings o action, 8-0, for the Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) Softball Championship.

Brandywine managed to get on the board in the bottom of the first inning, as Arianna Segich started the inning with a walk to first base. Julia Allman singled to right center to push Segich home, 1-0 early in the contest. Maddie Malfara walked before Steph Harvey doubled to right center, scoring Gannon. With an Ashlee Stritzinger ground out to shortstop, Malfara scored to put Brandywine over Beaver, 3-0.

Brandywine continued to hit in the bottom of the second as Katie DeStefano singled before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Segich placed a bunt singled before stealing second. Allman grounded out to score DeStefano before Robyn Gannon also laid down a bunt single, scoring Segich, 5-0 home team.

Stritzinger led the bottom of the third with a single to right center before Julie Foeldes reached first on a throwing error, scoring Stritzinger. DeStefano followed up with a single to the shortstop to score Foeldes, 7-0. With an Allman sacrifice fly, DeStefano scored the eighth and final run of the game for Brandywine, paving the way for a five-inning bowout for Beaver, 8-0 Brandywine.

The two-time softball champions were led by Encarnacion, who captured her 10th win on the bump for the blue-and-white. The pitcher threw all five innings, facing 17 batters. She threw 61 pitches, 41 being strikes. The PSUAC Pitcher of the Year allowed just two hits through the championship match.

Segich led off the batting order 2-for-2 with two runs notched while DeStefano hit 2-of-2 with two runs and one run batted in. Stritzinger hit 2-of-3 with one run and one RBI as Allman hit 1-of-2 with three runs batted in.

Congratulations to the two teams as they look forward to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Baseball Championships.