Since the end of March, the Brandeis softball team has faced three opponents; the New York University (NYU) Violets, the Wellesley College Blue and the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Goats. The first two series were at home while the WPI doubleheader was away.
To start, the Violets came to Waltham for a three-game series; two games played on Friday March 28 and the final game played on Saturday, March 29. In the first game, the Judges came away victorious with a 2-0 win over the Violets. Their two winning runs were scored in the bottom of the first inning. Luckily, our Judges held the Violets scoreless for the entire game despite not scoring any more runs. The two runs were a result of a two-run homer hit by Brooke Boehmer ’27. Katie Baydian ’28 was the runner on base that Boehmer sent home along with herself. Pitcher Ragini Kannan ’26 was the major star of the game, pitching a three-hit shutout. She threw 102 pitches, 64 of which were strikes.
The next game against NYU that evening was arguably the more exciting of the two played that day as the Judges walked it off in the bottom of the seventh to win it. The Judges scored three runs in the second, one in the third, and one in the seventh. The first two runs of the game for the Judges were the result of yet another two-run homer. This time, it was hit by Jordan Wallace ’28, the first-year designated hitter. This was the first of her collegiate career. An additional run was scored in the third when Bells Burdenski ’26 singled, sending Fiona Doiron ’25 home. The next Brandeis run was scored by Boehmer ’27 who made it home from scoring position after a wild pitch. The final and most exciting run for the game came when Baydian ’28 sent the first pitch of the bottom of the seventh over the fence, earning not only the walk-off win for the Judges, but also her first home run of her collegiate career.
In the final faceoff between the Judges and Violets, the game did not go in the Judge’s favor as they had wished, having lost by one point, 12-13. Despite this, the Judges did make quite the comeback after being down eight runs by the top of the second. Leading the Judges in hitting this game was Baydian ’28 and Boehmer ’27 once again, with two runs, three hits and two RBIs each.
Next, the Judges hosted Wellesley College in a doubleheader last Wednesday, April 2. In their first game, the Judges were down 3-0 by the fourth inning; however, they rallied and came back to win by scoring two runs in both the fifth and seventh innings. The first set of runs were a result of Erin Hunt ’26 hitting a triple with both Wallace ’28 and Doiron ’25 on base. Hunt ’26 sent both runners home. Wallace ’28 was on base from getting a walk and Doiron ’25 had already gotten on base with a double. The next set of runs that won it for the Judges were in the last inning of the game. To do so, Wallace ’28 got a double, Rani Balakrishna ’25 came in to pinch run, and Dioron ’25 hit a single which sent her home. Hunt ’26 then stole home while the Wellesley team was not entirely attentive, giving the Judges the win.
In the second game against Wellesley that day, the Judges scored at least a run in every single inning of the game. The game was a complete battle the entire time as it concluded in a tie of 11-11; however, the game unfortunately concluded in that tie due to the nightcap. Leading the Judges with RBIs in this game were Boehmer ’27 and Burdenski ’26, each with three.
Most recently, the Judges traveled west to Worcester, MA to face the WPI Goats for a same-day doubleheader this past Friday, April 4. In the first game against the Goats, the Judges won 11-6. Leading the Judges in batting were Burdenski ’26 with a double, Boehmer ’27 with one home run and Wallace ’28 with two. Wallace ’28 had five RBIs, Burdenski had two RBIs, and Boehmer had one. Kannan ’26 crushed it on the mound with another win for the Judges.
In the second game against WPI, the game did not go the way the Judges would have liked as they lost 10-5. The Judges did have a solid fourth inning as they scored three runs in that frame, but otherwise they could not contend with the five-run first inning that the Goats had.
Looking ahead, the Judges will host the Carnegie Mellon University Tartans this upcoming weekend, weather permitting. Come out to the softball field this weekend to support your Judges!
