Occasionally, usually less than once a week, the Brandeis softball team has actually lost a game this year.
I know, this seems shocking given their stunning season so far. Never fear, though–they just made sure that their national ranking of 18 can only improve following another perfect week on the diamond.
To be fair, they only had to win two contests to make sure that would be true. On Tuesday, their home doubleheader against Babson was rained out, and the looming NEWMAC softball tournament means that it will not be made up. So the Judges’ success or failure this week depended entirely on Thursday’s doubleheader in Providence, Rhode Island, where the Rhode Island College Anchorwomen awaited their challenge.
The first game started ominously for Brandeis when Rhode Island plated a run in the bottom half of the first inning.
In the second, however, Danielle Lavallee ’11 hit a solo home run to tie. Then, after a single from Chelsea Korp ’10 and a walk to Melisa Cagar ’11 put women on the bases, singles from Marianne Specker ’12 and Brittany Grimm ’12 scored a pair to put the Judges up 3-1.
Rhode Island returned the favor by scoring two in the bottom of the third, only to have the Judges counter-punched in the top of the fourth after Korp took home on a wild pitch and Stacy Berg ’13 slapped an RBI single. That would be all they would need, but a three-run bases loaded single from Lavallee and a run-scoring error by the Anchorwomen provided the final 9-3 margin.
In the later game, Specker hit an RBI single in the third and a two-RBI single in the fifth to provide the Judges first three runs. Rhode Island helped the Brandeis cause by committing a two-run error, and Erin Ross’s one-run single in the seventh left Brandeis with a comfortable 6-2 lead going into final at bats.
But the Anchorwomen wouldn’t go quietly. Two hits, a walk and an error later, the score was 6-5, and pitcher Caroline Miller ’12 was being relieved by Emily Vaillette ’10. Vaillette left the hearts of the Brandeis faithful beating rapidly, giving up a wild pitch and another walk, but she induced a grounder for the final out and the Judges’ sweep.
Brandeis stands at 24-6-1 now, with their away schedule completely behind them. Their regular season ends with home doubleheaders against Emerson on April 30th and Framingham State on May 2nd before they embark on what will hopefully be a long post-season trip.
