BRONX, N.Y. – The Brandeis University softball team dropped a pair of contests in their first-ever trip to NYU today. The Judges were on the wrong end of a two-hit shutout, 11-0, in the opener, then dropped an 11-7 slugfest in game two. The Judges fall to 16-19, while the Violets improve to 23-15.

In the opener, the Judges had runners in every inning, thanks to seven walks, but couldn't push any of them across the plate. The Judges' two hits came from seniors Madison Gagnon (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake) and Madison Sullivan (Dover, N.H./Dover). NYU, meanwhile, pounded out 11 runs on 16 hits. Left fielder Ashley Mains led the Violet attack, going 2-5 with five RBI on a two-run home run in the first inning and a three-run triple that was part of a six-run second. 3B Dakota Damiani went 3-3 with two runs and two RBI.

The Brandeis bats awoke in game two, as they scored seven runs on 10 hits, but NYU repeated their 11-run, 16-hit attack to take the 11-7 win. The Judges got a pair of home runs in the second game. Junior Allison Hecht (Melville, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) launched a solo shot in the second – her third of the season and fourth of her career. Rookie Marissa DeLaurentis (Centereach, N.Y./ St.John the Baptist Diocesesan) hit a two-run blast in the fourth inning for her third-straight game with a round-tripper.

NYU jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, with Mains driving in two more runs with a double to highlight the frame. The Violets scored two runs in each of the next three innings to take a 10-3 lead. Kahala Bonsignore knocked a two-run double in the second and Carina Sturm homered in the third. Brandeis scored four runs in the sixth on three hits, two errors and two wild pitches, but the Judges couldn't climb all the way back.

The teams are scheduled to meet again tomorrow at 12 p.m.