WELLESLEY, Mass. (courtesy Wellesley sports information) -- The Brandeis University softball team dropped a pair of contests at Wellesley College today in the Judges' first games of the season in New England. Wellesley improves to 6-4 with the sweep, while Brandeis falls to 7-8.
Wellesley nabbed game one with clutch hitting from Emilyrose Havrilla and a solid start from Lauren Goldfarb. Havrilla went 2-3 with a double and a triple, while Goldfarb mowed down the Brandeis hitters, allowing no runs on just three hits with four strikeouts.
The Blue struck for solo runs in the bottom of the first and the bottom of the third. After Jaclyn Tsang was hit by a pitch, Havrilla laced a triple into right field to score Tsang, making it 1-0 after one. In the third inning, Havrilla got on with a two-out double and was advanced to third on a Jayne Ellis single. A single from Kimberly Cabralthen pushed the lead to 2-0 Wellesley after three.
Brandeis threatened with runners on in the top of the sixth and the seventh, but Goldfarb shut them down to preserve the 2-0 victory.
After Havrilla's two hits, Ellis also collected a pair, including a double. Cabral, Samantha Spiga and Mariah Philips all added singles to round out the offense for the Blue.
Brandeis managed just three hits against Goldfarb, as sophomore CF Amanda Genovese (North Haven, Conn./North Haven), rookie RF Madison Sullivan (Dover, N.H./Dover) and junior 1B Melissa Nolan (Windsor, Conn./Loomis Chafee) all recorded singles. In the circle for the Judges, senior Casey Ducinski (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) suffered the loss, throwing strong six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits with three strikeouts.
In game two, Wellesley fell behind early but used a huge second inning to complete the sweep.
Brandeis struck first with two runs in the top of the first inning. A walk to rookie 2B Danielle Novotny (Milford, N.J./Delaware Valley) and a double from sophomore catcher Cori Coleman (Burr Ridge, Ill./Hinsdale South) put runners on second and third, before a passed ball scored Novotny to make it 1-0. Wellesley got a strikeout for the second out of the inning, but a single from sophomore pitcher Nikki Cote (Shelton, Conn./St. Joseph's) knocked home Coleman to make it 2-0, Brandeis.
Wellesley got one back in the bottom of the inning, after a leadoff single from LaBouyer came around to score on an Ellis single.
The Blue broke open the game with a five-run second inning, using a two-out rally to make it 6-2. Mara Blesoff sandwiched a single between Wellesley strikeouts, before the Blue turned things on. Jennifer Migliore worked a walk before back-to-back singles from LaBouyer and Abby Casey made it 3-2, Blue. Goldfarb then laced a three-run homer to dead center to stretch the Wellesley lead to 6-2.
The hosts increased the lead to 9-2 with three more in the bottom of the fourth. Migliore was hit by a pitch, while LaBouyer worked got on with a walk. A Casey sacrifice moved the runners to second and third before a Goldfarb fielder's choice scored Migliore. Ellis then knocked a single to center that scored LaBouyer and Goldfarb, making it 9-2, Wellesley after four.
Brandeis threatened in the top of the fifth with two runners on and no outs, but Wellesley's Sarah Schwartzmeyer got out of the inning without a blemish. The Blue then scored a run in the bottom of the sixth inning as LaBouyer scored on a Brandeis miscue to end the mercy-rule shortened game.
For Wellesley, Goldfarb ended the game with a homerun and four RBI, while Ellis was 3-3 with three RBI. LaBouyer finished 2-2 with an RBI, while Casey also drove in a run. Schwartzmeyer picked up her third win of the season, throwing six strong innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits with two strikeouts.
The Brandeis offense was paced by a 3-3 performance from Cori Coleman, while Nikki Cote went 2-3 with an RBI. Genovese had a fifth-inning single to extend her hitting streak to 15 games to start the season and 23 in a row dating back to 2012. She also stole a base in the first contest, but was also caught for the first time all season.
Wellesley is back in action on Friday, opening conference play with a doubleheader against Babson at 3:00pm. Brandeis also plays a doubleheader on Friday at 3:00pm, with the Judges traveling to Emerson.