WALTHAM, Mass. — Brandeis University junior center fielder Amanda Genovese (North Haven, Mass./North Haven) stole her 100th and 101st career bases today as the Judges earned a non-conference softball split with Endicott College. Genovese stole the milestone bases in a 9-4 win in game one before the Gulls took the nightcap, 6-1.
Brandeis is now 11-9 on the season after snapping a three-game losing streak in the opener. Endicott is now 9-3.
Genovese sparked the Judges' win in the opener by going 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. She stole her 100th base in the Judges' three-run bottom of the fourth inning. After driving in tie-breaking run with a double, she stole second and scored on classmate and roommate Anya Kamber's (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline) single that gave Brandeis a 3-1 lead.
Stolen base #100 for Amanda Genovese
Endicott erased that lead with one swing of the bat and some sloppy play in the next half inning. The Gulls, who loaded the bases on a hit batter and two bunt singles, nearly lost the opportunity after Brandeis senior Melissa Nolan (Windsor, Conn./Loomis Chaffee) got a strikeout and a comebacker to the circle that erased a run at the plate. EC's Sam DiBella followed with a single, with two throwing errors on the Judges that allowed all three runners to come plateward. That put the visitors ahead, 4-3.
he Judges responded with a six-run bottom of the sixth inning. Genovese led off with a swinging-bunt single and followed with steal #101. She moved to third on an infield grounder and scored on Kamber's second RBI hit of the day. After sophomore 3B Madison Sullivan (Dover, N.H. / Dover) followed with a double to put two runners in scoring position, junior 1B Cori Coleman (Burr Ridge, Ill./Hinsdale South) laced a ball that the third baseman knocked down, but it rolled away, allowing both runs to score, giving the Judges a 6-4 lead. Three batters later, rookie LF Madison Hunter (Parker, Colo./Legend) blasted her first collegiate home run, a three-run blast to give Brandeis some breathing room. Brandeis rookie Emma Krulick (Maitland, Fla./Winter Park) gave up hits to the first two Gull batters in the seventh, but left them on base to close out the win.
In the second game, Endicott hit two two-run home runs off of Judge junior Nikki Cote (Shelton, Conn./St. Joseph's) to earn the win. Sophomore catcher Emily Hoffman (Malden, Mass./Malden) connected in the fourth inning to break a scoreless tie, while senior Jesse Bilafer (Concord, Mass./Concord Carlisle) doubled the lead to 4-0 in the fifth. Both blasts went to center field.
The Gulls tacked on single runs in the sixth and seventh before Brandeis senior Leah McWilliams (Billerica, Mass./Billerica Memorial) knocked home Nolan to spoil Endicott sophomore Katherine Clark's (Taunton, Mass./Coyle Cassidy) shutout bid.
The Judges return to action Tuesday, April 8, at local rival Lasell for a 3 p.m. start.
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