Brandywine Suffers Sweep At Berks

READING, Pa. – The Penn State Brandywine baseball team suffered a United East Conference doubleheader sweep at Penn State Berks on Monday afternoon by scores of 5-4 and 15-2.

Game One: Penn State Berks 5, Penn State Brandywine 4

Brandywine sent nine batters to the plate during the ninth inning, but the Lions' late rally fell short in a 5-4 setback to begin the day.

Nate Turner (Dover, Del./Dover) doubled, Evan Shade (Green Lane, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) walked and David Kursman (Pennsauken, N.J./Pennsauken) was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. Toby Skeans (Stevensville, Md./Kent Island) brought all three runners home with a long double into the left-center field gap as Brandywine trimmed a 5-1 deficit to just one. A single and a walk re-loaded the bases for the Lions with two outs, but Berks worked out of the jam, getting a strikeout to end the game.

Berks took advantage of four walks and a passed ball to score three times in the fourth inning. The score remained 3-0 until the seventh when Turner walked and came around to score three batters later on Kursman's infield single. The hosts added a pair of insurance runs during the bottom of the frame to up their lead to 5-1.

Turner recorded two of Brandywine's six hits and scored a pair of runs to lead the offense. Nate Romberger (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen School) limited Berks to one hit and two earned runs and struck out four in 4.0 innings, but took the loss, while Jack Johnston (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) fanned three over 1.2 frames of relief.

Game Two: Penn State Berks 15, Penn State Brandywine 2

Berks ran away with game two, winning by a 15-2 count, to complete the sweep.

Five Lions produced hits, including Miguel Rodriguez (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin), who collected two knocks, and Owen Lawton (Glenmoore, Pa./Downingtown East), who recorded Brandywine's lone extra-base hit with a double.

Mike DeGirolamo (Frederick, Md./Frederick) singled to score Turner in the third, while Rodriguez pushed Jimmy Carey (Springfield, Pa./Bonner-Prendie) across the plate with a base hit in the seventh to account for Brandywine's pair of runs.

Berks took advantage of four Brandywine errors during the first inning to build a five-run lead and scored during six of its seven at-bats overall.

Brandywine hosts Valley Forge for Senior Night on Wednesday beginning at 6:00 PM.