BOSTON, Mass. -- The Brandeis softball team won a pair of mercy-rule victories over host Emerson College on Friday evening, defeating the Lions, 10-1, in five inninings in the opener and 12-4 in six frames in the nightcap. Senior Casey Ducinski (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) earned wins in both games and hit a home run in the second contest to pace the Judges, while sophomore Anya Kamber (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline) and junior Melissa Nolan (Windsor, Conn./Loomis Chafee) also went deep. The Judges moved back over .500 at 9-8 on the season, while Emerson fell to 9-9.

In game one, the Judges scored 10 runs on 14 hits, with every member of the starting lineup hitting safely. Kamber led the way with a 3-for-3 performance. She had an RBI single in the first inning that proved to be the game-winning run, while adding a two-run home run in the third inning. It was her first collegiate home run. Sophomore CF Amanda Genovese (North Haven, Conn./North Haven) went 3-for-4 with an RBI, two runs scored and two stolen bases. Rookie 2B Danielle Novotny (Milford, N.J./Delaware Valley) drove in two runs and had her second triple of the season, while junior 3B Leah McWilliams (Billerica, Mass./Billerica Memorial) added a two-run double for her first extra-base hit of the season. Ducinski earned the win with four innings of four-hit ball, allowing one unearned run on a dropped fly ball in the third inning. She struck out three and walked two.

In the second contest, the Judges rapped out 12 more hits, with eight of the nine starters gettinng hits. Ducinski launched her first home run of the season as part of a two-run fourth inning, a solo shot. Nolan's second round-tripper of the season was a three-run job that was part of a five-run fifth, which also included a two-run double by Novotny. Brandeis put the game out of reach with another five-spot in the sixth inning. Genovese went 1-4 with two runs scored and another stolen base, giving her 25 thefts for the season, seven shy of Brandeis's single-season record. With another four innings of six-hit ball, allowing four earned runs with a walk and a strikeout, Ducinski improved to 5-2 on the season. Nolan was outstanding in relief, retiring six of the seven Emerson hitters she faced with two strikeouts and just one hit allowed. 

Brandeis will host Salem State University on Monday at 3 p.m. in their home opener, a doubleheader originally scheduled for March 23.