WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University softball team has placed five members on the 2021 University Athletic Association (UAA) All-Association team.
First-year Alex Cohen of West Palm Beach, Florida, was selected as a pitcher and utility player, playing in the outfield when not in the circle. Cohen led the Judges and tied for fourth in the UAA with a .436 batting average at the plate, while going 3-1 with a 1.27 ERA as a pitcher. She had the third-lowest ERA in the league and 45th in Division III. She also led the team with 17 hits and six doubles – fifth-most in the league – and was second in on-base percentage (.467) and slugging percentage (.744) – ranking seventh and sixth. Cohen drove in 12 runs and scored nine. As a pitcher, Cohen finished with 27 strikeouts, eighth in the league, while her 8.59 strikeouts per seven innings were fourth in the UAA and 44th nationally.
Cohen is a 2020 graduate of The Benjamin School.
Senior shortstop Jolie Fujita of Honolulu, Hawaii, earned All-Association honors for the third year in a row. She hit .341 (14-41) with 11 RBI and a team-leading 20 runs scored. Her 1.43 runs per game is ranked second in the UAA and 19th in Division III. Fujita scored a run in 12 of the Judges' 14 games, including once in each of the first nine contests. She also had five doubles, a team-leading two triples and one home run to finish with a .634 slugging percentage. Fujita led the team with nine walks and was third on the Judges with a .460 on-base percentage.
Fujita is a 2017 graduate of The Punahou School.
Junior pitcher Sydney Goldman of Los Angeles, California, was recognized for the third year running. Goldman turned in one of the finest pitching seasons in Brandeis program history. She went 7-0 to tie for second in the UAA in wins while allowing just four earned runs in 44 innings pitched for a school-record 0.64 ERA, the eighth-lowest in Division III this season. Goldman completed all seven of her starts with four shutouts. She struck out 10 or more batters in a game in five of her starts, including the second perfect game in program history in the season opener, when she struck out 13 of the 15 batters she faced in a 9-0 win over Worcester State University. In addition to her school single-season record for strikeouts, she also set a new mark with 11.77 strikeouts per seven innings pitched.
Goldman is a 2018 graduate of Notre Dame High School.
Rookie 3B Haley Nash of Delmar, New York, earned her first honor. Nash hit .342 (13-38)and led the Judges with five home runs, 17 RBI, and an .842 slugging percentage – second-highest in the conference and 49th overall in Division III. She tied for fourth in the UAA in homers, good for 17th in Division III with 0.36 homers per game, and was 10th in the association in RBI. Nash had a hit in 11 of the team's 14 games and drove in a run in 11 contests. She set a team season-high with five RBI in a 16-4 win over Anna Maria College on April 14, including a grand slam for her first collegiate homer.
Nash is a 2020 graduate of Bethlehem Central High School.
Senior centerfielder Melissa Rothenberg of Lawrenceville, New Jersey, was named to the team for the second time. She tied Fujita with a .341 batting average (15-44) for the fourth-highest on the team. Rothenberg also finished second on the Judges in runs (14), RBI (14), doubles (5), triples (1), and home runs (3). Her .705 slugging percentage is third on the squad and eighth in the UAA, while her 0.21 homers per game are ranked 96th in Division III.
Rothenberg is a 2017 graduate of Lawrence High School.
In their first year under head coach Dani Bishop, the Brandeis softball team finished the regular season with a 13-1 record. They won their first 13 games in a row and were one of the last four unbeaten teams in Division III before dropping their last contest. The Judges lead Division III with a team earned run average of 0.78 and are among the national leaders in walks and hits per inning pitched (2nd, 0.81 WHIP), strikeout-to-walk ratio (9th, 5.40 K/BB). Brandeis was ranked No. 1 in New England in the latest NCAA Division III Regional Rankings. They await the NCAA Tournament selection, which will take place on May 17.
For more information on Brandeis Softball, visit the team's web page at https://www.brandeisjudges.com/sports/sball/index. Follow Brandeis Athletics on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, @BrandeisJudges.