Softball Championship Day Recap: Brandywine Wins Fifth Straight Title

DUBOIS, Pa. - It was a familiar sight throughout the day on Monday at Heindl Memorial Field in DuBois, Pa. Penn State Brandywine had already secured their spot in the championship game by way of a win over Penn State DuBois in Sunday night's winner's bracket final. They awaited Monday morning's winner of Penn State Hazleton and DuBois, and hoped to capture their fifth consecutive PSUAC Championship. 

DuBois picked up their second win of the tournament over Hazleton on Monday, advancing to the title game for the first time in the program's brief history. However, the familiarity continued as Brandywine would indeed hoist the trophy again, earning an automatic bid into next week's USCAA Small College World Series in the process.

West #3 PSU DuBois - 2, East #1 PSU Hazleton - 1

Hazleton looked to avenge their loss to DuBois from a day earlier, but DuBois' Lizzy Scott clamped down Hazleton's powerful lineup in another strong performance. Scott allowed just four hits while striking out five over seven innings; her only blemish would be a single run in the fifth inning as Jacqlyn Hess singled home Nicolette Kessler for a brief 1-0 lead.

DuBois would answer with a Samantha Satterlee RBI single in the sixth to set up an eventful seventh inning. A one-out walk put the go-ahead run on base for DuBois, and Brooke Harvey sacrificed the runner to second. A single pushed Cayleigh Huffman to third with two outs before Kayleigh MacTavish got her chance to play hero. 

MacTavish singled to left for the 2-1 lead, and Scott would make the score hold up despite allowing the tying runner to reach in the seventh. The win propelled DuBois into their first championship game, and a shot at a USCAA at-large bid. Hazleton's hopes will fall to the USCAA selection committee, where they were most recently ranked seventh.

East #2 PSU Brandywine - 7, West #3 PSU DuBois - 1

DuBois continued their momentum from the morning into their second game of the day, pushing across a run in the top of the first inning to take the early 1-0 lead. It would be the only run they would score. 

Cara Fabiano settled in and scattered six hits in a her second complete game of the tournament. Fabiano took advantage of a strong defense behind her, only striking out one batter and relying on her defense for the other 20 outs. Still, her performance gave Brandywine time to slowly build their lead.

Alyssa Sullivan singled home Arianna Segich in the first to tie the game at 1-1, before Brandywine would add two in the third to make it 3-1. Morgan Meoli had two RBI on the afternoon as Brandywine extended their advantage to 4-1 in the fourth, and ultimately would grab a 7-1 advantage in the sixth off a Sullivan sac fly and a two-run triple by Meoli.

Lizzy Scott, who pitched a bulk of DuBois' innings over the weekend, took the loss in 2 2/3 innings of work before giving way to Brooke Harvey. Brandywine managed eight hits and drew five walks. The champs left eight runners on base, but were able to push across plenty of their baserunners to take the crown.

Brandywine will learn their seed for the USCAA Championships this evening during the USCAA selection show, while DuBois hopes for an at-large bid.