ERIE, Pa. — Kaylee Mushinski delivered a two-out, walk-off single during the final at-bat of her standout, four-year career, lifting No. 1 Penn State Brandywine to its second-straight United East Conference softball championship with a 3-2 victory over No. 3 Penn College on Saturday, May 9.
Mushinski, who capped her freshman year with a walk-off base hit to win the Small College World Series, lined a base hit into the left-center field gap, scoring Valentina Capra with the game-winning run, collecting her team-record 226th and final RBI of her career.
Capra got the seventh-inning rally started by working a nine-pitch walk. She moved to second via Naya Rivera's sacrifice bunt and advanced to third thanks to Lexi Bussenger's infield single. Two batters later, Mushinski gave Brandywine its second United East title in as many years and 11th-straight conference crown overall.
Bussenger singled, stole second and scored on Mushinski's base hit to give Brandywine a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
The Wildcats put six hits on the board during the second and third innings, scoring a single run during each frame to take the lead; however, April Lewandowski set down 12 of the final 15 batters she faced, keeping Penn College off the scoreboard during the final four frames.
Lewandowski won her 16th-straight start, upping her record on the season to 17-2. Lewandowski, who scattered eight hits and yielded two runs en route to her 16th complete game of the spring, closed out her four-year career with a record of 62-9, a team record for victories.
The Lions trailed until the fifth inning when Brandywine struck for a two-out run to tie the score. Bussenger got the two-out rally started with a base hit and moved to second base via Penn College error. Emma McElroy followed with a single, scoring Bussenger to make the count 2-2.
Brandywine collected 10 hits off of Penn College hurler Mackenzi Tice, who threw more than 400 pitches in four complete-game efforts during the two-day tournament.
Bussenger tallied the final three hits of her career, upping her total to 243 knocks, a program record. Mushinski added two knocks to her career total, completing her 164-game career with 226 hits. Ava Rodgers produced a pair of singles, while Bussenger stole two bases.
The game marked the end of four Brandywine seniors' careers: Bussenger, Lewandowski, Mushinski and Rivera. The seniors won the final game of every season during the last four years, capturing four conference titles and two Small College National Championships. Brandywine posted a record of 144-32 during the last four seasons.
The Lions finished the season with a record of 34-7, their fifth-straight season with at least 34 victories. After beginning the 2026 season with six losses during its first 10 games, Brandywine won 30 of its final 31 contests, including 27-straight, a program record, to end the season.