Seven baseball and softball players, two from men's tennis and one from women's tennis were honored in the 25th anniversary of the University Athletic Association.
Senior centerfielder Lauren Porcaro added her third postseason honor of 2011-12, taking second-team All-ECAC accolades to go with All-UAA and NFCA All-New England awards.
Senior Lauren Porcaro was a second-team All-New England selection, while classmates Brittany Grimm and Marianne Specker were joined by rookie Amanda Genovese on the third team.
Senior Marianne Specker is Brandeis's 22nd Academic All-American and the sixth two-time honoree. She hit .401 with 41 RBI for the Judges and graduated with a 3.92 GPA as a psychology major with minors in women's and gender studies and politics.
Seniors Ezra Bernstein of Buffalo, N.Y., and Marianne Specker of South Windsor, Conn., were selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America and will be eligible for Academic All-America honors. Specker was a first-team selection in 2011.
The Judges shut down Simmons, 3-1, and the Gulls, 5-1, in the first two games. Despite answering back nearly every time Endicott scored in the final game, Brandeis couldn't quite come all the way back in dropping the final contest.
The top-seeded Brandeis softball team held off a late charge by the #5 seed Raiders, but couldn't tame the #3 seed Gulls to advance to the championship round. Brandeis will face Simmons tomorrow at 11 a.m. for the right to a rematch.
Senior Caroline Miller struck out eight of the first 12 Daniel Webster hitters and had a two-run double in the first inning to lead the top-seeded Judges to victory in the ECAC tournament. Brandeis will host Rivier Saturday at 10 a.m. in the next round.
The Judges, who have earned the ECAC top seed for the third time in the last five years, will take on Daniel Webster College Wednesday, May 9, at 4 p.m. in the opening round.
Twelve outstanding student-athletes were recognized on May 2 at the 2012 Brandeis Department of Athletics Awards Dinner. Read about the award winners here!
Senior Brittany Grimm reached base in all nine of her plate appearances and classmate Caroline Miller fanned nine in five innings to win game one, 10-4, but the Beacons rallied after getting down to their last strike to earn a split, 3-2, in the second game. Brandeis finishes its regular season at 23-16.
Senior 1B Marianne Specker earned first-team All-Association honors, while outfielder Amanda Genovese was named the Rookie of the Year. Genovese was joined on the second team by SS Brittany Grimm and CF Lauren Porcaro, both seniors.
Brittany Grimm had a double and a homer and Caroline Miller tossed a 3-hitter as the Judges won the opener, 6-1, but they could not mount a comeback in the nightcap, which the Lancers took by a 4-2 score.
Every Brandeis starter but one had a hit, but the Judges were unable to climb out of an early 6-0 hole against the Jumbos. Senior Marianne Specker had a two-run double to give her 105 RBI for her career.
Host Clark scored the lone run in the bottom of the seventh inning of the opening game to spoil Caroline Miller's one-hit seven-K performance, but the Judges got revenge in game two on Lauren Porcaro's first-inning grand slam.
Senior Lauren Porcaro had a pair of seventh-inning three-run home runs. One proved to be a game-winner in the 7-3 opener, while the other cut a four-run deficit to one, but it wasn't enough in a 4-3 loss. Classmate Caroline Miller went deep twice in the opener and earned her 10th win of the season
Senior Caroline Miller recorded a win and save, and half of the Judges' hits went for extra bases as they defeated Bowdoin, 7-3 and 4-3, to pick up their first sweep away from home of the season.
Against the top-ranked team in New England, the Judges mustered just six hits across a double header. Senior Marianne Specker accounted for three of those hits, moving into seventh place on the career list with 160.
Senior 1B Marianne Specker had four more RBI today, giving her 101 for her career, as the Judges split with Wheaton College. Specker had two RBI in a four-run third in a 5-4 game one win, and two more to tie the game in the fifth of a 6-3 loss in the nightcap.
Seniors Caroline Miller (3-0, 0.00 ERA, 26Ks) and Marianne Specker (.421 BA, 14 RBI, 2B, 3B, 2 HR) led the Brandeis softball team to a 6-0 week last week and garnered University Athletic Association Pitcher and Batter of the Week honors for their efforts.
Caroline Miller allowed just three hits over six inning with eight strikeouts in the opener, while classmate Brittany Grimm homered twice in game two, accounting for seven RBI as the Judges swept the Gulls to win their ninth-straight game.
Senior Caroline Miller struck out a career-high 12 batters of the 18 she faced in the opener, while the Judges scored eight of their nine runs in one inning of the nightcap.
Senior 1B Marianne Specker drove in seven runs in game one and another three in game two, slugging a double, triple and grand slam as part of a 3-7 performance as the Judges defeated the Lasers, 20-1 and 8-3.
Two Brandeis pitchers held Wellesley to seven hits over 14 innings today, allowing the Blue just four innings with hits to even their record at 8-8. Senior CF Lauren Porcaro was the hitting star, going 3-for-5 with three RBI, three runs, three stolen bases, a homer and a double in the two games.
The Brandeis softball team could not rally to beat Emerson in a 6-4 loss, but they did overcome a three-run sixth inning deficit against Lesley to take a walk-off 10-9 win eight innings
Senior Caroline Miller tossed a career-high 11 innings, while adding a home run and a triple, two runs and two RBI as the Judges topped the Vikings, 11-6, but the hosts answered with a walk-off 5-4 win in the nightcap.
Caroline Miller matched a career-high with 10 Ks in the opener, a 2-1 win for the Judges, while a rally from eight runs down fell just short in the night cap, as the Engineers prevailed, 13-12.