WALTHAM, Mass.  – The Brandeis University softball team won a four-game series against Washington University for the first time in program history as the Judges defeated the Bears, 4-3 and 5-3, in a doubleheader today to take the University Athletic Association series, 3-1. With the wins, Brandeis clinches second place in the UAA with a 13-7 record, while eclipsing the 20-win mark for the second season in a row at 21-10.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis: 21-10, 13-7 UAA
• Washington University: 18-18, 10-10 UAA.

HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME ONE (Brandeis 4, Washington U. 3)

• The Judges did all of their scoring in the first two innings. In the first, it was first-year 1B Maddie Manes (San Clemente, Calif / San Juan Hills) who produced a two-run double to right.
• In the second, first-year SS Bells Burdenski (San Diego, Calif. / Rancho Bernardo) launched her fourth home run of the season with one runner on. It was her 13^th and 14^th RBI of the campaign.
• WashU got one run back in the second inning when 1B Ashley Kennedy hit a solo home run to right-center field.
• In the fourth, three of the first four WashU batters singled. LF Tami Wong drew a one-out bases-loaded walk to get the Bears on the board, but Brandeis first-year starter Ragini Kannan (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) got out of trouble with a strikeout and a grounder to second base.
• The Bears' Natalie Pilpil blasted a home run to right-center field in the sixth inning to get the visitors within 4-3, but Kannan shut the door in the seventh.
• Kannan improved to 13-4 on the season, moving her into a tie for ninth on the Judges' single-season wins list.
• She also allowed seven hits and three earned runs. Kannan struck out three, giving her 101 Ks for the season, the eight 100K season in school history.
• Offensively, five of the first six Judges had hits, with Manes going 2-for-3 with two RBI and 2 doubles. Burdenski also drove in two thanks to her home run.
• WashU starter Jamie Burgasser suffered the loss in the circle, going 5.2 inning with six hits and four earned runs. She struck out three and walked five to fall to 4-5 on the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME 2 (Brandeis 5, Washington U. 3)

• WashU struck first in this game, with Kennedy doubled home Katie Gould.
• They doubled the lead in the second inning when Gould and Olivia Craycroft executed a double-steal.
• The Judges fought back in the second inning, when sophomore C Tristan Boyer (Chesapeake, Va. / Grassfield) singled through the left side to make it 2-1, while Manes and classmate Elle Ehrlich (Falls Church, Va / Meridian) completed a double-steal of their own to tie the game at 2-2.
• Brandeis took advantage of WashU errors in the fourth inning to score three runs and take a 5-2 lead.
• Bear LF Tami Wong singled home a run in the top of the fifth, but Brandeis pitcher Alex Cohen (West Palm Beach, Fla. / The Benjamin School) got out of further trouble and went on to retire seven of the last nine hitters she faced to secure the win.
• Cohen tossed five innings of six-hit reliefs, giving up six hits and just one earned run in five innings, as her record improved to 8-5. She struck out two and walked one.
• WashU's Jordan Rossi took the loss, falling to 8-4 as she gave up four hits and five runs (three earned) over 2.1 innings of work. She had one strikeout and three walks.
• First-year CF Erin Hunt (Wake Forest, N.C. / Franklin Academy) paced the Brandeis offense, going 3-for-4 with a run scored and two stolen bases. Each of the first five hitters in the lineup scored one run.
• Kennedy went 4-for-4 in game 2 and finished 6-for-7 on the day.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• This is the first time Brandeis has won 20 games in back-to-back seasons since 2014 and 2015.
• The Judges had never won an on-campus series with Washington University before, as Brandeis had lost 14 in a row to the Bears before yesterday's win.
• The Judges had not finished second in the UAA since 2019 and their 13 league wins are a single-season record.

UP NEXT

• The Judges start an eight-game non-conference slate to close the season with a doubleheader against WPI on Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m.