ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – The Brandeis University softball team dropped a pair of University Athletic Association contests today, dropping a back-and-forth 9-7 affair to Case Western Reserve and a 10-5 decision against eighth-ranked Emory. The Judges now sit at 4-3 overall, 1-3 in the UAA.
In first inning of their opener against Case (8-1, 3-1 UAA), sophomore Samantha Wroblewski (Delray Beach, Fla./Spanish River) got out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation when she snagged a line-drive double play. The Judges scored twice in the bottom of the frame on junior 3B Madison Sullivan's (Dover, N.H./Dover) two-run home run. It was the first homer of the season for Sullivan and the fifth of her career.
In the second inning, Brandeis loaded the bases with one out and scored their third run on a Leah Shapiro (Beverly Hills, Calif./Beverly Hills) sacrifice fly. They loaded the bases again, but Sullivan's hard-hit ball to left was caught.
Case got on the board in the top of the third, on a two-run home run by Katie wede. The Judges got one run back in the fourth, when senior Amanda Genovese (North Haven, Conn./North Haven) reached on a fielder's choice, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. She scored on a grounder to short that Shapiro legged out for her second RBI of the game.
The Spartans claimed their first lead in the fifth on a two-run double by DP Gena Roberts and an error by the Judges, making it 5-4.
Brandeis answered again in the bottom of the inning when two runs came home on a single to center by sophomore SS Liana Moss (Agoura Hills, Calif./Agoura). An error in the outfield allowed a second run to score. Another Spartan error and a walk loaded the bases, and Genovese pushed home Brandeis's seventh run with a single to short. The Judges were unable to create further damage, as Shapiro's grounder to third produced a force at the plate and a nice play in left field ended the inning.
Case scored four times in the top of the sixth to take the game. Left fielder Annie Wennerberg tripled to start the inning and Grace Trichler brought her home with a double. A pinch runner scored the tying run two batters later, and after the Spartans loaded the bases again, Roberts delivered the game-winning hit, a two-run single to left. The Spartans retired six of the last seven batters to close out the game.
In the day's second game against No. 8 Emory (12-2, 2-2 UAA), the Eagles scored single runs in each of the first three innings against Wroblewski, but the damage could have been much worse. EU loaded the bases in the first and second, but got only one run in each, with a key double play bailing the Judges out of the second.
Brandeis broke through against the Eagles in the bottom of the third, exploding for four runs against starter Brittany File. File walked the first two batters, then Genovese packed the sacks with a bunt single. Junior 2B Danielle Novotny (Milford, N.J./Delaware Valley) drew the third walk of the inning to get the Judges on the board. File got the first out of the inning on a strikeout, but senior Anya Kamber (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline) tied the contest with a two-run single down the right-field line. After Kamber stole second to get two runners into scoring position, Moss reached safely on a fielder's choice as Novotny scored the go-ahead run. Emory reliever Sydney Carpenter came on and got the last two outs to escape further damage, but Brandeis claimed a 4-3 lead.
The Eagles got all four runs right back in the bottom of the frame. Wroblewski got the first two outs, but hit a batter and allowed a single. She had a chance to get out of the inning with a comebacker, but an errant throw allowed EU to score the tying run. Emory's Ashley Powers laced a two-run double to left field to put her team back in the lead. Brandeis reliever Melissa Soleimani (Somerset, Mass./Somerset Berkley Regional) gave up a hit to the first batter she faced, Brianna Berceau, putting runners on the corners. Soleimani ran into to some bad luck after Berceau stole second, as Emory's Amy Wray struck out, but reached first on a wild pitch that allowed Powers to score.
The Eagles added two insurance runs in the fifth on a two-run home run from Hannah Sendel, putting the ahead 9-4. Brandeis scored one in the sixth when senior Cori Coleman (Burr Ridge, Ill./Hinsdale South) singled and back-to-back batters were hit by pitches. Shapiro went down on strikes as a pinch hitter, but Genovese laid down a perfect bunt to plate Brandeis's fifth run. Emory got the run back on a bases-loaded walk in the top of the seventh to close out the scoring.
Genovese was the team's top performer on the day with four hits in nine at-bats (.444). she scored two runs and drive in two and stole a base, the second of her season and the 110th of her career, moving her into the top 25 all-time in Division III. Sullivan hit just .250 (2-8) but matched Genovese with two RBI and two runs, with her home run giving her a team-high .625 slugging percentage for the two contests.
Wroblewski suffered the loss in both contests, allowing 22 hits and 11 earned runs in 10.2 innings of work.
Brandeis wraps up the first half of its UAA action tomorrow at 10 a.m. against 23rd-ranked Washington University.