Since The Hoot’s last publication, the Brandeis Judges’ softball team played two pairs of games. For the first, the team traveled down the road to Boston, Massachusetts to compete against the Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT) Leopards on March 16. Three days later, on March 19, the Judges remained local as they faced off with the Massachusetts Institute of Tehcnology (MIT) Engineers on their home turf of Cambridge, MA. Brandeis was victorious in both games against WIT, winning with scores of 4-0 and 11-3, while they lost both games against MIT 5-2 and 4-2.
In the first game against WIT, pitcher Alex Cohen ’24 opened with a complete-game one-hitter, striking out seven and walking four. This was the second time this season that Cohen threw 100 pitches during a complete game, as well as the 17th time in her career. With this game, Cohen also became the 14th Brandeis softball player to reach 25 career wins. Other than that, in the first inning, center-fielder Erin Hunt ’26 began with a single, taking second base and eventually scoring off right-fielder Maddie Manes ’26. After leaving some runners stranded in the fourth and fifth innings, the team was able to score in the seventh thanks to a run-batted-in (RBI) double hit by Manes as well as a home run hit by Haley Nash ’24—her third of the season. Manes overall hit three hits in four at-bats, a career high, as well as two doubles and two RBIs. Nash hit the Judges’ other two RBIs this game and had two hits alongside Hannah Fletcher ’27.
The second game against WIT saw a stalemate for the first four innings. After two outs, third baseman Anna Kolb ’25 succeeded at hitting a double, then scored off left-fielder Elle Ehrlich ’26’s single. Second baseman Fiona Doiron ’25, shortstop Bells Burdenski ’26, Manes and Nash then brought the Judges’ lead to 5-0. WIT responded by pushing the score to 5-3, edging the tie before being shut down by starter Ragini Kannan ’26, who got two outs on opponent infield grounders. At the top of the sixth inning, Brandeis scored six runs on five hits, three walks and one hit-by-pitch, virtually taking the game. Nash ended the scoring with a home run—her second of the day, fourth of the season and 23rd of her career. This put Nash in a tie for fourth place in Judges history. Kannan, meanwhile, never let WPI take more than a single, completing her 17th career game with a win. Overall, Doiron, Ehrlich and Hunt all took two hits while Burdenski and Nash each drove in three. Nash had two walks, a sacrifice fly and a home run in her four plate appearances, finishing the day with five RBIs, two runs, two home runs, a double and two walks across both games, also raising her batting average to .588 this season.
The first game against MIT opened with Cohen holding the opposition to only one hit through to the fourth inning. Brandeis, however, was unable to capitalize on this hold, and in the fifth inning, MIT broke through and hit five times against Cohen—taking a 5-0 lead. At the top of the seventh inning, Fletcher was able to get two out, though this was not enough to prevent MIT from emerging victorious. Over the course of the game, the Judges were able to hit five times and draw seven walks, though were unable to provide a bigger push that would have allowed them to rack up a higher score.
Finally, the second MIT face-off started strong for Brandeis, with Hunt hitting a single and scoring off Manes’ additional single. The Judges were able to hit two more singles, but were foiled by MIT’s pitcher. Brandeis’ opponents were then able to score four runs against Kannan, who recovered by getting two players out. With an MIT home run, however, the hosts took a comfortable 4-1 lead. A reach by Ehrlich and triple by Hunt brought it up to 4-2, though MIT’s strong defense kept the score there for the remainder of the game, despite doubles by Fletcher and Burdenski.
After these games, the Judges’ record for the season stands at 3-5.
Next, the Brandeis softball team will host the Worcester Polytechnic Institute on March 22.
