Softball falls in series opener with WashU, 3-0

Scottie Todd '20 (Photo by Sportspix.com)
Scottie Todd '20 (Photo by Sportspix.com)

WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University softball team dropped its series opener with University Athletic Association rival Washington University today, 3-0. The second game of the scheduled doubleheader was suspended after the top of the third inning with the visitors leading, 3-1.

Game one was a pitcher's duel between WashU's Anna McKee and Brandeis sophomore Scottie Todd (Tampa, Fla./Strawberry Crest). Todd tossed a five-hitter and allowed only one earned run with two strikeouts, but McKee was even better, allowing just three Brandeis hits in seven innings with five Ks. She also walked two batters. Todd falls to 6-7 with the loss, while McKee improves to 6-6.

WashU shortstop Taylor Arends was the only multiple hitter of the game, going 3-3 with a double. She scored the first run of the game in the first inning, singling to third base and scoring all the way from first on a throwing error. McKee then helped her own cause with an RBI single to plate Maggie Clapp, who had reached second on the error to make it a 2-0 game.

Brandeis put runners on the corners in the bottom of the first, as junior Keri Lehtonen (Oneco, Conn./Plainfield) singled, was bunted to second and moved to third on a wild pitch. After senior Amanda Shore (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) drew a walk, McKee settled down and got a fly out to right and a grounder to second.

The Bears added a third run in the fifth on a single by Julia Flores, followed by a passed ball and another Brandeis error. Brandeis had a chance to spoil the shutout bid in the seventh when sophomore Taylor Simala (Wellsburg, W. Va./Brooke) singled with one out and classmate Brianna Urena (Somerset, Mass./Somerset Berkley Regional) reached on an error. Lehtonen, the Judges' top hitter stung a ball to right field, but Bear RF Natasha Ramakrishnan made a terrific diving stop to preserve the shutout for McKee.

The suspended game will be finished as the first game of tomorrow's Senior Day doubleheader at 1 p.m. The final game of the series will now be played on Sunday at a time to be determined.