WALTHAM, Mass. – Brandeis softball seniors accounted for five doubles, two home runs and 10 RBI today as the Judges swept visiting Framingham State University with a pair of 9-1 victories. The Judges won game one in five innings and game two in six frames. In their final home games of the season on Marcus Field, Brandeis improves to 22-15, 13-4 at home, while the seniors record their 98th and 99th career victories. FSU falls to 15-23 on the campaign.
Leading the senior attack for the Judges was senior shortstop Brittany Grimm (Perkiomenville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley). Grimm had a remarkably symmetrical day, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored in both contests. She had a double and a home run in the first game and added another two-bagger in the second contest. Her six hits on the day moved Grimm into third place on Brandeis's career list with 175, while her 11 total bases move her into fourth place with 26. Grimm also moved into seventh in Judges' history in four other categories: doubles (36), home runs (14), RBI (95) and runs scored (115).
Infielder Marianne Specker (S. Windsor, Conn./Westminster School) went 4-for-7 with three RBI – including the walk-off hit in the fifth inning of game one – and a pair of doubles. Specker's team-leading 38 RBI this season are tied for the fifth-highest single-season total in Brandeis history, while her 108 career runs driven in are fourth all-time. Specker sits one behind Grimm in fourth place on the career hit list with 174, while her two doubles today moved her into a tie for 10th on the career list.
Centerfielder Lauren Porcaro (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) matched Specker by in going 4-for-7 with three RBI and two runs scored. Porcaro also had a walk-off hit, ending the second game in the sixth inning with an RBI single. Porcaro also had her team-leading eighth home run of the season in the third inning of the second contest. The blast her into a three-way tie for sixth place on Brandeis's single-season list and into sixth place on the career list, two ahead of Grimm with 16 round trippers.
Senior pitcher Caroline Miller (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Harriton) was stellar in the first game, both at bat and in the circle. Miller was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored at the plate. As a hurler, she allowed just five hits and one earned run in five innings of work. Miller struck out eight without a walk to improve to 12-7 on the season. She becomes the 10th pitcher in school history to win 12 games in a season, while her 126 strikeouts on the campaign are the second-highest single season total. On the career list, she now ranks third with 282 strikeouts and fourth with 34 victories.
Not to be forgotten, senior leftfielder Megan DeNubila (Princeton, Mass./Wachusett Regional) went 4-for-6 overall, 2-for-3 in each game. She had a stolen base in game one and a run scored in the second contest.
Framingham State mustered just five hits in the opener, with sophomore catcher Molly McKinnon (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) driving in the only run for the Rams in the fourth inning, when the visitors strung together three hits. In the second contest, FSU had eight hits, with six coming from just three players. Sophomore RF Alyssa Begin (Salem, Mass./Bishop Fenwick), senior LF Sherren Doyle (Middleboro, Mass./Middleboro) and sophomore 3B Kyle Fortin (Candia, N.H./Manchester Central) each had two hits. Rookie CF Tiffany Agostini (Rehoboth, Mass./Bishop Feehan) drove in the only run against Brandeis sophomore Melissa Nolan (Windsor, Conn./Loomis Chafee) with a groundout in the fifth inning. Nolan improved to 8-3 on the season with six innings of eight-hit ball, fanning six and walking three.
Brandeis closes its regular season on Sunday with a doubleheader at UMass Boston before finding out their postseason fate later in May. FSU ends its season tomorrow with two games at MCLA.