Over spring break, the Brandeis women’s softball team headed down to Pittsburgh to take on the Tartans of Carnegie Mellon University, sweeping them in both games played on Sunday to take the series in a 3-1 fashion. In the first contest, the Judges won 5-1, and then followed with a score of 6-2. The team is ranked 20th in the nation, being number one in New England.
The Judges got off to a hot start, scoring the first five runs of the game before the Tartans scored their only run of the contest. Left fielder Marissa DeLaurentis ’19 hit a fly ball out to leftfield that allowed Scottie Todd ’20 to make it first onto the scoreboard. Again with her hit in the top of the fourth inning, DeLaurentis batted in centerfielder Melissa Rothenberg ’21 on a single. First baseman Ashleigh Fultz ’22 hit a double to bring Rothenberg in again. DeLaurentis also scored in the top of the sixth off a passed ball. Lastly, pitcher Sydney Goldman ’22 hit a single in the seventh to bring in third baseman Marley Felder ’22. From the circle, Todd pitched the whole game, giving the Tartans only three hits overall and one run coming in the bottom of the seventh.
In the second game of the day, the Tartans were still not able to match the Judges’ scoring efforts, scoring six runs. In the top of the third, shortstop Jolie Fujita ’21 hit a sacrifice fly that allowed Felder to cross home. In the bottom of the fourth, Carnegie Mellon landed two runs, but the Judges came back to hold them scoreless for the rest of the game. In the fifth, Fultz, right fielder Amidori Anderson ’22, and Todd all made hits to allow their teammates to score, bringing in Fujita, DeLaurentis and Fultz in respectively. In the seventh, Anderson landed her first career home run, with Todd following as the last batter of the game to earn an RBI that brought in catcher Keri Lehtonen ’19. Goldman pitched from the circle, earning a 12-0 record on the season and becoming the UAA leader in wins.
Heading back to Massachusetts, the Judges played a non-conference double header against the Rams of Framingham State, winning 3-1 and 5-1. In the first game, Goldman hit a single to bat in Fujita in the bottom of the second. In the fifth, Felder hit a double to left center to bring in Anderson and Rothenberg. Todd pitched all seven innings, bringing her win total up to 12 on the season. In the latter half of the double header, the Judges took over in the fifth, with Todd hitting a single that brought in right fielder Marysa Massoia ’19, Fujita hitting in Lehtonen, and Goldman doubling to right center to bring Fujita across home plate for the Judge’s fifth and final run of the day. Goldman pitched from the circle, bringing her win total up to a perfect 13-0.
To wrap up play over spring break, the Judges took the field for another four games against University Athletic Association (UAA) opponents from Emory University. The Eagles won all four contests with scores of 12-3, 6-3, 3-2 and 11-3. In game one, Fujita launched a home run in the bottom of the first that brought the Judges all of their runs in the matchup, making it her fourth homer of the season. In the latter half of the double header, it was Goldman who batted in two of the Judges’ three runs. On day two of the weekend, Brandeis continued to compete, but ultimately fell again to a fierce Emory team, leaving them to end in second place overall in the UAA after regular season play.
The Judges end their incredible season with a record of 27-6-1 overall, 10-6 in the UAA. They await the possibility of receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The selection show is on Monday, May 6.
