WALTHAM, Mass. – With a pair of convincing victories, the Brandeis University softball team improved to 24-11, the seventh-most wins in a single season in school history, as the Judges easily swept a doubleheader from Lesley University, 8-0 and 13-0, both in five innings, today on Marcus Field.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis: 24-11.
• Lesley: 3-33.

HOW IT HAPPENED, PITCHING

• The Judges got dominant pitching to go along with terrific hitting to earn the two wins.
• In the circle, Brandeis allowed just three hits and struck out 15 Lynx hitters in 10 innings of work.
• First-year Ragini Kannan (Westford, Mass./Westford Acad.) started the opener and allowed one hit in four innings with seven strikeouts.
• She improved to 15-4 in the circle, just the eighth 15-win season in program history. Her seven Ks moved her career total to 124, third-most in a season in school history. Kannan ranks second in the UAA in both wins and Ks. 
• Senior Chandra Penton (Newton, Mass./Newton South) fanned one in a 1-2-3 fifth inning of Game 1.
• Junior Alex Cohen (West Palm Beach, Fla./The Benjamin School) outlasted an hour-and-35-minute rain delay in the bottom of the first inning of Game 2 to finish with a five-inning complete-game shutout, allowing two hits and striking out seven. Cohen threw just 53 pitches in her five frames, 45 for strikes.
• Cohen improved to 9-6 on the season and threw her 215^th career strikeout, making her one of eight pitchers to reach the 200 K plateau with the rest of 2023 and a full senior season still to go.

HOW IT HAPPENED, HITTING

• Brandeis scored their eight runs on 12 hits in the first game. They scored two runs in each of the first two innings and four more in the third.
• In the second game, Brandeis's 13 runs came on just nine hits.
• 14 hitters came to the plate in the first inning as the Judges scored 10 runs on just three hits.
• The rain early in the frame made control difficult for the Lesley pitchers, who issued three walks, four wild pitches and hit four batters.
• Brandeis would add three more runs in the fourth inning.
• The offensive star of the day was first-year centerfielder Erin Hunt (Wake Forest, N.C./Franklin Academy). Hunt, the Judges' leadoff hitter, reached base in all seven of her plate appearances. She went 5-for-5 with two walks, five RBI, five runs scored and three doubles, all of which came in Game 2.
• Hunt also stole five bases to increase her team-leading total to 26, fifth-most in a season in school history.
• First-year 1B Maddie Manes (San Clemente, Calif / San Juan Hills) also had a stellar day at the plate, going 4-for-6 with five RBI – three in the first game and two in the second – with three runs scored and a double.
• First-year Andrea Perez - Ramirez (Pembroke Pines, Fla. / Pembroke Pines Charter) had her first two career hits in game one, scoring two runs, while junior Chickie Elbaz (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) drove in her first career RBI in game two.

UP NEXT

• The Judges will head to Medford, Mass., tomorrow to finish a suspended game against #8 Tufts at 4 p.m. Brandeis trails the Jumbos, 5-0, in the top of the fifth inning. They will then host Suffolk University on Sunday afternoon at noon.