The Brandeis softball team has had a successful weekend after having two double-headers. The Judges managed a successful run, winning three out of their four games this weekend against Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and Salem State.
March 25 saw the Judges lose 10-2. The first game started with the Judges trying to make an early attempt at a lead. Brittany Grimm ’12 and Marianne Specker ’12 managed walks and found themselves in scoring position in the first inning. Starting pitcher for WPI, Erin Flaherty, struck out the subsequent two batters to escape with no damage.
The fourth inning saw WPI take the game away with Juliana Fekete hitting a double with two runs followed by Erin Beaulieu singling another run making the score 8-0.
The Judges attempted to turn around their bad luck in the top of the fifth inning when Maxie Hirschler ’12 doubled on the first pitch of her at-bat. Carly Schmand ’11 doubled as well to score Hirschler and Grimm. At this point the Judges were showing life, making the score 8-2.
Even with a successful fifth inning, the Judges could not come together and lost 10-2. WPI pitcher Erin Flaherty managed to strike out four Judges and picked up a win bringing her record to 5-2. Melissa Nolan ’14 picked up the loss for the Judges with two and a third innings of work and five runs (four earned). Caroline Miller ’12 came in for relief work and allowed five runs on eight hits.
In part two of the doubleheader, the Judges returned for payback. Energized, the Judges jumped to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. Schmand managed to reach on an error and scored on a double hit by Hirschler. Speckler’s patience at the plate allowed her to get on base with a walk, while a ground-out would allow Speckler and Hirschler to round the bases to homeplate.
Casey Ducinski ’13 won the game for the Judges bringing her record to 3-2 due to her seven innings of work with six strikes-outs and only allowing one run on four hits. Taking the loss for the Engineers was Christa Coscia, while she pitched three innings and surrendered five runs on five hits.
The strong weekend continued for the Judges when they faced off against Salem State. The Judges swept Salem State outscoring them 22-8. The Judges first victory against Salem State ended in nail-biter fashion. After eight innings of play the score was 8-7. The second game was much more one-sided with the Judges winning 14-1 in five innings of play.
The second game against Salem State may not have finished in dramatic fashion, but a blowout victory is certainly not a bad thing. The Judges’ offense exploded scoring 14 runs against the Vikings. In the bottom of the second inning Hirschler managed to bring a run home. She led the explosive inning with seven runs by the Judges. Nolan banged two three-run home runs, one to right field and the other to left field. Not only did Nolan support the Judges offensively, the rookie pitcher also dominated on the mound, only allowing one run on one hit in the fourth inning. With this win, Nolan improves to 4-5 on the season with a complete game. Nolan padded her stats by striking out seven but also walking four batters.
The Judges now face an away stretch, facing Wellesley, Lasell and Suffolk before returning home on April 8 to host Babson.
