WALTHAM, Mass.—Junior Kathleen Conway (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) pitched a complete-game shutout and helped her own cause with a solo home run, leading Babson College to a 3-0 win over the Brandeis University softball team. The Beavers improved to 28-11, while the Judges fell to 23-18.
Babson scored all of its runs in the first two innings, and all on home runs. The second batter of the game, senior ss Catie Funk (Scarborough, Maine/Scarborough), blasted a two-run shot to right-center field to give the Beavers the early lead. Conway led off the second inning with a solo blast that cleared the scoreboard in right field.
The contest then turned into a pitchers duel, with Conway being matched by Brandeis junior Melissa Nolan (Windsor, Conn./Loomis Chaffee) and senior Casey Ducinski (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury). After Nolan finished out the second inning, Ducinski came on and pitched five shutout frames. In her final regular season contest for the Judges, Ducinski gave up just three hits and allowed only one runner to reach third base.
But the story of the day was Conway. The Babson ace gave up three hits and no walks, striking out 12 batters in seven innings of work. Conway moved to 17-5 on the season, and lowered her ERA to 0.96, moving her into the top 10 in Division III. She also finished 2-for-2 with a walk at the plate, including her first home run of the season.
Nolan had two of Brandeis' three hits at the plate, but also earned the loss to fall to 9-7 on the season.
Sophomore cf Amanda Genovese (North Haven, Conn./North Haven) went 1-for-3 at the top of the Brandeis order. She was held without a stolen base for just the ninth game this season and caught stealing for just the second time in 58 attempts. Her 56 stolen bases so far this season still place her fourth all time in Division III.
It was Brandeis and Babson's second meeting in just over a week. In the first contest, which was played last Wednesday, the Beavers defeated the Judges 6-2. Conway was the star then as well, striking out 13 in seven innings of work and chipping in two of her team's eight hits.
Today's game concluded regular season play for Brandeis. The Judges will find out if they earned an ECAC Tournament berth on Monday.
-Jeffrey Boxer