Last Friday the women’s softball team played Worcester State University away. The Judges faced the Worcester State Lancers in a doubleheader. The Judges split with the Lancers, taking the first game but dropping the second to Worcester. The Judges came out of the doubleheader with a record of 11-10 this season.
In the first game against Worcester, the Judges won 6-2. Brandeis scored first in the top of the second inning when Allie Hecht ’17 got on base after a hit by pitch. The next two batters allowed Hecht to advance to third, and from there she scored on a sacrifice fly by Keri Lehtonen ’19. Brandeis continued their scoring in the third inning when, with Leah Shapiro ’17 on base, Maddie Sullivan ’16 blasted a two-run home run for the Judges to make the score 3-0. It wasn’t until the bottom of the third that the Lancers would answer back, scoring two runs on three hits. The Judges answered by scoring a run in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, while the Lancers could not produce any runs after the third inning. The consistent scoring earned the Judges the 6-2 win over Worcester State.
The Lancer’s pitcher only lasted three innings, giving up four hits, while Brandeis’ Melissa Soleimani ’17 pitched a complete game, earning the win for the Judges. Soleimani allowed seven hits and two earned runs in her complete game.
Sadie-Rose Apfel took the mound for the Judges in the second game against the Lancers. The Judges dropped the second game to Worcester State 6-4, in a back and forth match up. Brandeis struck first in the top of the first inning when Madi Gagnon ’16 scored Lehtonen on a sacrifice bunt. However, the Lancers answered in the bottom of the first inning with a run off an RBI single to left center. The Lancers scored again in the bottom of the second and third innings to take a 3-1 lead over the Judges. However, the Judges took back the lead in the top of the fourth inning. Marissa DeLaurentis ’19 singled to right field for an RBI that scored two runs for Brandeis, evening the score. Jordan Buscetto ’16 hit a sacrifice fly to score DeLaurentis, giving the Judges a 4-3 lead over the Lancers. However, Worcester State answered in the fifth inning with three runs to secure their win against Brandeis, 6-4. Back-to-back doubles for the Lancers provided three runs at the plate with hits from three other Worcester State players.
The game was cut short in the sixth inning due to lightning, cutting the Judges’ opportunity to come back short. For the Judges, Madi Hunter ’17 went two for three in the second game against the Lancers, while Buscetto and Liana Moss ’17 batted .500 for the Judges. The Judges racked up nine hits against the Lancer’s pitcher, but could not convert them to enough runs to secure the win. Apfel moves to 3-3 on the season, pitching five innings with six earned runs on 11 hits.
The Judges enjoyed a week off due to cancellations as a result of Monday’s snowstorm. However, the Brandeis women’s softball team is back in action on Monday, April 11 against Babson at 4 p.m. at home. The Judges will face Babson again on Tuesday as well at home at 4 p.m.
