United States Collegiate Athletic Association announces Penn State Brandywine Claims First Softball National Championship
DUBOIS, Pa. – Kaylee Mushinski singled in Jess James with the winning run with no out in the bottom of the seventh as Penn State Brandywine defeated Mississippi University for Women 10-9 for the 2023 USCAA Softball National Championship on Thursday.
The Nittany Lions completed an undefeated run through the tournament to finish off with a 35-8 record, while the Owls of MUW completed a 27-20 season.
Penn State Brandywine scored three times in the bottom of the first with a run on a groundout by Payton Landis and two runs scoring on an error. MUW answered with a pair in the second on an error and a sacrifice fly by Jessica Deming.
Crystal Cassario pushed the Brandywine lead to 4-2 on an RBI single in the third before the Owls took charge. After scoring a run on an error in the fifth, Maiya Joe doubled in a run and scored on a wild pitch in the sixth as MUW took a 5-4 lead.
The scoring pace picked up in the bottom of the sixth as Brandywine put up a four-spot highlighted by a two-run double by Meghan Ferry to lead 8-5. MUW wasn’t done yet they responded with a four-spot of their own in the top of the seventh. Riley Phillips hit a two-run home run, along with RBI singles from Ashton Farnell and Maddy Suggs to put the Owls back up 9-8.
Penn State Brandywine responded again with a pair of runs as Lexi Bussenger started with a single and scored on James triple to tie the game. Mushinski followed with a single for the game-winning run.
Bussenger was 3-for-4 to lead Penn State Brandywine, while Landis and Emily Reagan had two hits apiece. Cassario picked up the win throwing one inning of relief. Alysa Newman and Madison Crosby were 3-for-4 apiece for the Owls.
Tournament MVP
Meghan Ferry - Penn State Brandywine
All-Tournament Team
Bryanna Dewey - D'Youville University
Hannah Bardeen - D'Youville University
Jazmyn Moetului - Salem University
Jessica Demming - Mississippi University for Women
Riley Phillips - Mississippi University for Women
Rylie Grisham - Mississippi University for Women
Kaylee Mushinski - Penn State Brandywine
Crystal Cassario - Penn State Brandywine
Jess James - Penn State Brandywine
Original source can be found here.