SOFTBALL SPLITS WITH BABSON
BABSON PARK, Mass. – In the first of two midweek non-conference showdowns, the Brandeis softball team came away with a road split against local rival Babson. The Judges took the opener, 3-1, behind another terrific pitching performance from rookie Scottie Todd (Tampa, Fla./Strawberry Crest), while the Beavers won a back-and-forth second game, 6-5. Brandeis moves to 10-11 on the season, while Babson is now 20-11.
HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME ONE (Brandeis 3, Babson 1)
Todd improved to 8-4 on the season and lowered her UAA-leading earned-run average to 1.28 by holding the Beavers to four hits and one unearned run over seven innings. Todd tossed her seventh complete game of the season, and it marked the ninth time this season she held an opponent to two earned runs or fewer.
After Babson scored an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning on an error struck by 3B Ashley Tango, Todd allowed just one runner past first base the rest of the way. Brandeis tied the score in the next half-inning on an RBI single by rookie RF Taylor Simala (Wellsburg, W. Va./Brooke).
An errant throw on a double play attempt in the third inning got junior CF Amanda Shore (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) into scoring position, and rookie 3B PJ Ross (Kingston, N.H./Sanborn Regional) delivered an RBI single to put the Judges ahead. Brandeis tacked on an insurance run in the fifth, when senior SS Madison Hunter (Parker, Colo./Legend) doubled to the wall in left to lead off the inning and she came home two batters later when sophomore RF Marissa DeLaurentis (Centereach, N.Y./St. John the Baptist Diocesian) delivered a sacrifice fly.
HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME TWO (Babson 6, Brandeis 5)
The second contest saw the lead change hands five times, with the Beavers striking the final blow. Facing Brandeis rookie Callie MacDonald (Hanover, Mass./Hanover), Babson's Samantha Smith opened the scoring with a single, and Tango doubled her home in the first inning to make it 2-0.
In the top of the third, Brandeis answered with one swing of the bat. After Babson cut down a runner at the plate on sacrifice fly attempt to get the first two out of the inning, Beaver starter Brooke Stock issued a pair of walks. DeLaurentis came up with two on and drove a home run down the left field line. It was her first of the season and fourth of her career and gave the Judges a 3-2 lead.
The lead was back in the Babson dugout in the bottom of the inning, as the Beavers tied on Tango's second RBI of the game and took the lead on a successful squeeze bunt laid down by catcher Tori Roche.
Brandeis went back on top in the fifth, thanks to a clutch two-out, two run single by Todd, her second hit of the day. She was the first batter faced by Babson reliever Ali Reilly, who was able to prevent further damage with a grounder to second.
Babson responded once again, as Tango singled to lead off the inning and Roche walked. The pair were bunted into scoring position, and Beaver DP Meaghan Merullo tied the game with a single up the middle. MacDonald got a liner to shortstop for the second out, but Babson LF Shannon Kortmann lined a hit to center for what proved to be the game-winning run. Reilly went on to retire six of the last seven batters she faced to earn the win for the home team.
UP NEXT
- Brandeis takes on another non-conference foe on the road tomorrow at Wellesley at 3 p.m. before traveling to St. Louis for a four-game University Athletic Association set.
- Babson hosts Clark in a NEWMACK twinbill on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m.