The Brandeis softball team lost a pair of games today on the fourth day of the University Athletic Association (UAA) tournament. The Judges fell, 9-4, to #19 Washington University in the morning, then lost, 8-2, to Rochester in the afternoon. Brandeis is now 8-5 overall, 2-5 in UAA play.
After Brandeis and WashU went scoreless for 10 frames in the two sides' first meeting, the rematch got off to a scorching start, with both teams scoring multiple runs in the first inning. The Bears got things started, as designated player Maggie Ingell singled home a run, then scored on a wild pitch.
The Judges responded in the bottom of the frame with a pair of home runs. With one out, sophomore catcher Madison Gagnon (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake) struck a solo bomb to center for her first home run of the season. Junior right fielder Anya Kamber (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline High School) then hit a two-run, two-out shot to right to give Brandeis a 3-2 advantage.
After 1-2-3 innings in the second, WashU blew things open in the third. Catcher Halle Steinberg hit a solo shot to tie things up, and Ingell gave the Bears the lead with an RBI double. After an RBI single, 1b (and former Brandeis player) Stacy Berg blew the game open with a three-run home run.
The sides traded runs in the sixth, as sophomore Danielle Novotny (Milford, N.J./Delaware Valley) had an RBI single, but Brandeis could pull no closer. Novotny finished 3-for-5 with an RBI on the day.
WashU's Kelsey Neal pitched the first five innings to pick up the win. Junior Nikki Cote (Shelton, Conn./St. Joseph's) allowed five earned runs in the loss. The rookie duo of Emma Krulik (Maitland, Fla./Winter Park) and Melissa Soleimani (Somerset, Mass./Somerset Berkley Regional) allowed just two runs total (one earned) in 4.2 innings of relief for Brandeis.
In the second game of the day, the YellowJackets scored three unearned runs in the first against the Judges and never looked back, winning, 8-2. Brandeis scored solo runs in the fifth and seventh innings. In the fifth, junior catcher Cori Coleman (Burr Ridge, Ill./Hinsdale South) started things off with a leadoff double, then was pinch ran for by rookie Leah Shapiro (Beverly Hills, Calif./Westlake), who came around to score on an error.
Senior 1b Melissa Nolan (Windsor, Conn./Loomis Chaffee) had a solo homer in the seventh, her first of the season.
Rookie Samantha Wroblewski (Delray Beach, Fla./Spanish River Community) picked up her first loss of the season despite not allowing an earned run. Wroblewski pitched 1.1 innings, giving up three unearned runs and striking out two. She has a 0.31 ERA in 22.1 innings this tournament, easily the best in the conference.
Cote had a strong outing in relief, going 2.2 innings without allowing a run.
Brandeis wraps up UAA play tomorrow when they take on the No. 9 Emory Eagles.