WALTHAM, Mass. – Brandeis University rookie Melissa Nolan of Windsor, Conn., and sophomore Mike Swerdloff of Scarsdale, N.Y., have been selected as the University Athletic Association (UAA) Pitchers of the Week for softball and baseball, respectively.
Nolan, a right-handed pitcher, went 2-1 for the Judges last week with a 0.57 ERA, 13 strikeouts and a .125 opponents batting average in 12.1 innings pitched. She earned the decision in both ends of a doubleheader split with Wellesley on March 30. She tossed 1.1 innings of hitless relief in the opener, an 8-6 Brandeis win, before suffering a hard-luck 2-1 loss in the nightcap, in which she allowed just two hits and one earned run in six innings of work.
Nolan bounced back with a five-inning complete-game win over Lasell College, 9-0 on March 31, giving up three hits and fanning eight. With 65 strikeouts this season in 65.2 innings pitched, Nolan is second in the UAA. She leads the Judges with six wins and a 2.88 ERA, having thrown five complete games, including a six-inning no-hitter against Case Western Reserve University on March 13. Overall on the campaign, Brandeis owns an 11-12 record with 14 games left on their schedule.
Swerdloff, a lefty, went 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA in two appearances last week. In a relief appearance against Suffolk University on March 30, a 6-4 win, he had a strikeout and a hit batter against the only two batters he faced.
In an 8-7 win in the second game of a doubleheader against WPI on April 3, Swerdloff allowed just four hits and two earned runs in six innings, striking out a career-high 11 Engineer batters. The 11 strikeouts in a game was the highest total by a Brandeis pitcher since 2007. Swerdloff had at least two strikeouts in every inning he worked but one, and fanned the side in the third. His 31 Ks this season are tied for third in the UAA with teammate John McGrath of New York, N.Y.
Overall this season, Swerdloff is 2-2 with one save and a 4.28 ERA. He leads the team with 33.2 innings pitched and has the Judges' only complete-game of the season, a 6-4 win over Grove City College on Feb. 26. As a team, Brandeis is 13-10, having already surpassed their win total from 2010 with 18 games left on the schedule.
Nolan is a 2010 graduate of Loomis Chafee School. She is the daughter of John and Yong Suk Nolan, Windsor, Conn.
Swerdloff is a 2009 graduate of Ardsley High School. He is the son of Allan and Joan Swerdloff, Scarsdale, N.Y.