WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University softball team won both University Athletic Association Player of the Week awards this week, as junior Alex Cohen of West Palm Beach, Florida, was named the Hitter of the Week, while first-year pitcher Ragini Kannan of Westford, Massachusetts, shared Pitcher of the Week honors.
Cohen, who was named the UAA Co-Pitcher of the Week a week earlier, earned her fourth career UAA weekly accolade, but first as a hitter. Cohen hit safely in five out of six games last week, finishing with a .579 batting average, .550 on-base percentage and 1.211 slugging percentage. She had 11 hits in 19 at-bats with seven runs scored, 10 RBI, 3 doubles and 3 home runs. Cohen opened the week with a perfect day at the plate against Eastern Nazarene in a non-conference doubleheader, going 7-7 with two doubles, one home run, three RBI and five runs scored on March 21.
In the Judges' four-game sweep of UAA rivals Carnegie Mellon from March 24 to 26, she went 4-12 with one double, two homers and seven RBI. Cohen delivered the go-ahead homer in the second inning of an 11-1 win to open the series, then hit the game-winning 3-run shot to snap a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning of an 8-3 win in the series finale that gave the Judges the sweep. Cohen was also 2-0 with 18 strikeouts in 13 innings pitcher in the circle.
Kannan went 4-0 overall last week, including three wins in UAA play as the Judges swept Carnegie Mellon. Kannan won all three of her starts, beginning with an 8-0, six-inning shutout of Eastern Nazarene on March 21 in which she allowed three hits and struck out 12. She had a six-inning complete game win over CMU in the UAA series opener, allowing her only run of the week in an 11-1 win. She struck out seven and walked one in that contest. In the tightest game of the series, she allowed three hits and struck out eight without a walk in a 1-0 victory. The week ended with Kannan pitching three innings of scoreless relief in an 8-3 win over the Tartans, allowing just two hits with 3 Ks. In all, she posted a 0.32 ERA for the week, striking out 30 in 22 innings with just two walks and 15 hits allowed.
Kannan shared the UAA Pitcher of the Week honor with Katie Gould of Washington University.
With a 9-1 record in head coach Dani Bishop's fourth season, the Judges rank among the top 10 in Division III play in six statistical categories. Brandeis leads Division III with 0.75 walks and hits/7 innings (WHIP). The Judges rank third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.25), fourth in earned-run average (1.33), fifth in win-loss percentage (.900), seventh in home runs per game (1.00) and eighth in slugging percentage (.552).
Cohen, Kannan and the Judges return to action on Friday afternoon in Atlanta, when they start a four-game UAA set with Emory.
Cohen is a 2020 graduate of The Benjamin School.
Kannan is a 2022 graduate of Westford Academy.
For more information on Brandeis softball, visit our web page at https://www.brandeisjudges.com/sports/sball/index.
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