WALTHAM, Mass. - Junior catcher Erin Ross (Manalapan, N.J.) went 3-3 with two doubles and four RBI today to lead the Brandeis University softball team to a 5-2 win over Trinity (Conn.) College in the second game of a two-opponent doubleheader today on Marcus Field.

In the second game, Trinity (11-6) opened the scoring in the third inning when sophomore CF Jessica Tait (No. Salem, N.Y.) homered to deep right field with one out in the third. It was her team-leading sixth bomb of the campaign.

Brandeis (10-7-1) answered in the bottom of the fourth, scoring three runs on just one hit. Rookie 1B Courtney Kelley (Leicester, Mass.) reached on an error to open the frame and was bunted to second for the first out. Senior pitcher Kaitlin Streilein (Point Pleasant, N.J.) followed with a walk and classmate RF Natalie Volpe (Southington, Conn.) reached on a fielder's choice to third base. The Judges loaded the bases when rookie 3B Danielle Lavallee (Sutton, Mass.) was hit by a pitch, and Ross cleared them with a ringing double to right-centerfield.

Kelley drove in her third run of the day in the fifth, reaching on a perfectly-executed squeeze bunt that plated junior LF Vicki Roomet (Jamaica, N.Y.). The Bantams got one run back in the sixth, when junior catcher Ariana Mullin (Woodbridge, Conn.) tripled down the right field line and came home on an infield grounder by sophomore SS Patricia Cipicchio (Southmont, S.C.). The Judges responded in the bottom of the frame when Ross knocked her second RBI two-bagger of the day.

Streilein earned the win for the Judges, tossing seven innings of five-hit ball. She struck out five and walked three, allowing just two earned runs, to improve to 6-3. Ross was the big hitter in the game, finishing 3-3 with two doubles and four RBI. Ross was the only multiple hitter for the hosts.

Trinity junior hurler Gabrielle Sergi (Walpole, Mass.) suffered the loss despite allowing just one earned run in six innings. She fanned five and walked just one but fell to 7-4 on the season. Mullin was the Bantam's lone multiple hitter, going 2-3 with a run scored. Tait's home and Mullin's triple were the visitors' only extra-base hits, as Trinity lost for just the second time in the last 11 games.