BRUNSWICK, Maine (courtesy Bowdoin sports information)
-The 21st-ranked Brandeis softball team rallied for a 6-3 win the
first game of a doubleheader at Bowdoin College's Pickard Field
today, but the Polar Bears shut out the Judges in the second
contest, 2-0, snapping a 12-game unbeaten streak for Brandeis in
the process. The Judges move to 18-5-1 while the Polar Bears
stand at 17-8 this season.
Sophomore OF Brittany Grimm (Perkiomenville,
Pa./Perkiomen Valley) had three hits in the twinbill to pace the
Judges, including a double and a pair of runs scored. Senior
Emily Vaillette (Milford, N.H./Milford) earned the
win in game one for Brandeis. Senior Clare Ronan (Jenkintown,
Pa./Penn Charter) and rookie Gen Barlow (Norwich, Conn./Norwich
Free Acad.) each reached base three times and had an RBI
apiece for Bowdoin. Polar Bear junior Kara Nilan (Pittsfield,
Mass./Taconic) tossed a complete-game shutout for the victory in
game two.
The Judges had to rally to take the opener after Bowdoin plated
three in the third inning behind RBI hits from Ronan,
sophomore Hillary Smyth (Hollis, N.H./Hollis-Brookline) and
Barlow. Brandeis got one run back in the fourth when senior
catcher Erin Ross (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan) came
home to score on a Bowdoin error. They chipped away with
another score in the fifth thanks to sac fly from junior 2B
Melissa Cagar (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) and then
scored three more to take the lead in the sixth frame. Cagar
delivered the big blow with a two-out, two-RBI single.
Vaillette settled in after a shaky early patch, finishing with a
complete game, allowing three earned runs, walking four and
striking out six. Bowdoin's Julia Jacobs (Ridgewood,
N.J./Ridgewood) was tagged with the loss after permitting four
earned runs and striking out three in 5.2 innings.
Kara Nilan out-dueled Brandeis sophomore Caroline
Miller (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Harriton) in game two as the
teams combined for just nine hits - all singles - in a 2-0 Bowdoin
win. The Polar Bears manufactured the game's only runs in the
third as Amy Hackett walked and stole second. After moving to third
on a groundout, she came home on a Caroline Dewar single. Dewar
then stole second and was plated by a Shavonne Lord single to give
Bowdoin a 2-0 lead. That proved to be all Nilan would need, as she
struck out two batters and allowed just five hits in the win.
Miller walked two and permitted four hits while striking out five
in the setback.
The Judges return to action on Wednesday when they take on Wheaton (Mass.) College, the alma mater of Brandeis head coach Jessica Johnson.