The Brandeis softball team took on Wellesley College on March 30 at home. The Judges dropped both games to Wellesley, moving the Judges closer to a .500 record of 10-9.
The Judges couldn’t pull through with the bats in the first game, losing 7-1. Wellesley opened the game with five runs in the first seven at-bats of the game against Brandeis pitcher Melissa Soleimani ’17. Wellesley scattered their seven runs in the first six innings. It was not until the bottom of the seventh inning that the Judges would answer at all, when rookie Keri Lehtonen ’19 hit a solo home run to put the Judges on the board. Lehtonen finished the first game 2-4 while teammate Amanda Shore ’18 went 2-4 at the plate with a double for Brandeis. Maddie Sullivan ’16, Madi Gagnon ’16 and Jordan Buscetto ’16 all added a hit for the Judges in the first game. Soleimani fell to 5-6 this season, but earned three strikeouts and two walks in the complete game.
The Judges managed to keep the second game closer, with pitcher Sadie-Rose Apfel ’18 battling for the Judges at the mound. The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when the Judges struck first. Marissa DeLaurentis ’19 drove in Madi Gagnon ’16 who reached on a hit by pitch, for the first run of the game.
Wellesley answered in the fifth inning with three runs off just one hit. Carly Bresee of Wellesley hit a ball back at Apfel which ricocheted off her leg and got Bresee on base. The Wellesley runner then moved to second on a pass ball. The next batter laid down a sacrifice bunt, but reached when the Judges tried to get Bresee at third. With two runners in scoring position the next batter hit to the shortstop who threw home, sticking Bresee in a pickle. However, Bresee scored when the throw to third was dropped. Apfel pitched the next two batters into groundouts, but both hits allowed the two runners in scoring position to get home. Wellesley finished the fifth inning with a 3-1 lead.
The Judges tried to answer in the sixth and seventh innings, putting runners on base in both innings, but they couldn’t advance runners past second with tight defense by the Wellesley Blue. All three of the runs in the second game were unearned for Apfel, who finished with two strikeouts and two walks. The Judges 3-1 loss drops Apfel’s record to 3-2 this season.
The Judges play Worcester State this Friday and Framingham State Tuesday in doubleheaders. They return home for a game against Babson on April 11 at 4 p.m.
