Brandeis softball was on fire from April 11 to 20. The team won eight of their ten games closing their regular season record at 25-2-1 and finished 20th in Division III.
After going 16 games unbeaten, Brandeis dropped the first game of the series against Case Western Reserve University 4-2. In the second game of the series, pitcher Sydney Goldman ‘22 pitched a one-hitter, throwing 94 pitches, 63 of which were strikes, securing the win. On the offensive side, P.J. Ross ’20 finished the game with four RBI and scored two runs.
The next day, the Judges swept CWRU in another double-header the following day. With final scores of 4-1 and 3-2, the Judges won the series 3-1. In the first game, the Spartans scored first with a run in the fourth inning. The Judges immediately responded in the fifth inning with four runs. In the second game, it went back and forth, until the Judges secured the win by adding a run in their last at-bat in the seventh inning.
Brandeis then went on to play a doubleheader against Clark. In the first game, the Judges won 9-0 in five innings. Goldman threw another one-hitter and struck out a career-high 11 batters, including a home run from Ross. In the second game, Clark was first on the board, but the Judges answered with two runs in the second to give them the lead. Going into the eighth inning, the game was tied 3-3, and Brandeis scored three runs to win the game 6-3.
Next, the Judges went on to face Worcester State at home, where they went 2-0. Brandeis came out on fire in their first game from the very first pitch, in which Keri Lehtonen ’19 hit her first home run of the season. Shortstop Jolie Fujita ’21 had a two-run home run in the fourth, Ross also had a home run in the fourth to secure the 8-0 win. Then in game two, the Judges won 4-0. Amidori Anderson ’22 threw her first complete game and a shutout with five strikeouts and only three hits allowed.
Finally, the Judges traveled to Pittsburgh to play against Carnegie Mellon University and won 3-1. In their first game against the Tartans, the Judges suffered their second loss of the season 2-1. The Judges came back from the loss and went on to sweep CMU in the next three games. In the second game of the series, the Judges in the fourth answered with two runs, tying the game 2-2. Then in the seventh, Lehtonen crossed the plate, securing the win.
In game three of the series, Brandeis pitcher Scottie Todd ’20, held Carnegie Mellon to zero hits through the first five innings. The Judges scored one run in the second, one in the fourth and two more runs in the sixth and one in the seventh putting Brandeis out of reach for CMU.
In the final game of the series, the Judges beat CMU 6-2. The Judges were the first on the board in the third inning. The Tartans answered with two runs in the fourth. Brandeis then went on to score five more runs, one being a home run from Anderson. With this win, the Judges have earned 25 wins on the season.
Brandeis pitcher Sydney Goldman ’22 was also awarded UAA Softball Pitcher of the Week.
Goldman went 4-0 for the week. Goldman has a 13-0 record for the season, and she leads the league in both wins and ERA. She also ranks third in the UAA with 93 strikeouts. After winning Pitcher of the Week, two weeks in a row, Goldman said, “As only a freshman it feels great to be recognized by the conference. This also drives me to pitch even better and continue to push our team this season.”
