After starting off the season 2-0, the Brandeis Judges Softball team continued their strong start by another six games in a row. In the first of these six wins, the Judges beat Anna Maria 7-1 on April 14. The Judges combined to have 11 hits in the game compared to Anna Maria’s three. Shortstop Jolie Fujita ’21 and catcher Tara Striggow ’23 both had two hits in the game. One of Fujita’s hits was a home run and the other was a double. The Judges went ahead in the third inning, as they scored three runs on three hits and a sacrifice fly. In the fourth inning, the game was blown wide open as center fielder Melissa Rothenberg ’21 hit a three-run home run. The pitching from the Judges was also very strong. Starting pitcher Sydney Goldman ’22 pitched a complete game, allowing only three hits and one run, while having eleven strikeouts, putting her 2-0 on the season.
In the second game against Anna Maria on April 14, offense was the clear key to victory. The Judges won with a score of 16-4 as they had 20 hits. Six players from the Brandeis Judges had a multi-hit day. Leadoff hitter Rothenberg had a very strong game as she had four hits in her five at bats. Third baseman rookie Haley Nash ’24 had two hits, including a home run, and five runs batted in (RBI). Rookie starting pitcher Rebecca Guerci ’24 in her first game at Brandeis, allowed just four runs on four hits in a complete game win.
Game three of the win streak was against Framingham State University on April 17. The Judges claimed victory with a score of 9-0. Rothenberg, Fujita, designated player Alex Cohen ’24 and first baseman Jamie Pippin ’23 all had two hits in the game. Although the offense was solid, the team was led by another incredible performance from Goldman. Goldman threw a complete game shutout while allowing only one hit. She also struck out 12 batters out of the 19 batters faced, making her nearly untouchable.
The Judges followed up the shutout victory earlier in the day with another victory against Framingham State with the score being 5-1. Putting the ball in play appeared to be one of the keys to success in the game. The Judges scored two runs on fielding errors from Framingham State Cohen pitched a strong game as she allowed only one run on four hits, while striking out six batters.
In the first game on April 18 against Framingham State, the team was led by pitching as the team won by the smallest margin of the week, 3-0. Striggow had two RBIs in the game and Nash had the other one. There were zero extra base hits in the game. Once again, the star of the show was Goldman. Goldman was again nearly unhittable. She threw a complete game shutout while allowing only two hits. Additionally, she struck out 13 out of the 26 batters she faced. This game moved her record for the season to 4-0.
The Judges finished their four-game series against Framingham State with another close game with a score of 3-0. Rothenberg contributed two RBIs that came in the form of a two-run home run in the fifth inning. Nash also added a double in the sixth inning to score the final run of the inning. Guerci, in her second start of the season, pitched a gem. She threw a complete game shutout while allowing only two hits and zero runs.
Goldman’s play this week led her to become UAA’s softball pitcher of the week for the second week in a row. In the week, Goldman had three starts and allowed only a single run in the 20 innings pitched. She also struck out 12.60 batters for every seven innings pitched in those three starts.
The Brandeis Judges kept their two-game win streak alive by winning another six games in a row this week. In those six games, the Judges beat Framingham State, four times. Before facing the Judges, Framingham State was 17-1 with a 13 game winning streak. Framingham State had only one loss before facing Brandeis, and they left with four times that many. The Judges look to keep up the momentum with two games against Salem State on April 23 and two games against Johnson and Wales on April 24.
