STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The Brandeis University softball team couldn't come up with the big hit today, as the Judges stranded 15 runners over the course of a pair of losses at NYU today. The Judges dropped a pitcher's duel in the opener, 2-1, before suffering a 7-1 loss in game two. Brandeis falls to 21-16 on the season, 7-12 in the University Athletic Association. NYU improves to 13-19, 7-10 UAA.
In game one, the Judges outhit the Violets, 7-3, but were only able to come up with one run. NYU scored twice in the bottom of the fourth on just one hit, as a hit batter and an error on a bunt put runners on first and second with none out. A fly out to left put a runner in scoring position and a wild pitch brought home RF Elisabeth Smith. NYU 2B Kalena Paredes followed with an RBI single to left that made it 2-0.
Brandeis got one run back in the fifth when senior LF Amidori Anderson (Sparks, Nev./Spanish Springs) singled to open the inning and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by graduate student SS Jolie Fujita (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School).
The Judges had a chance to tie the score with four hits in the sixth inning, but NYU threw out the tying run at home plate on grad student CF Melissa Rothenberg's (Lawrenceville, N.J./Lawrence) single to right, and got a comebacker to the circle with the bases loaded to end the inning. Fujita reached on an error with one out in the seventh, but the Judges could not get her past second base.
Sophomore Rebecca Guerci (Roslyn, N.Y. / Herricks) was the hard-luck loser for the Judges, falling to 3-4 on the season. She allowed just three hits and two runs (one earned) in four innings of work. Senior Sydney Goldman (Sherman Oaks, Calif./Notre Dame) threw a hitless two innings of relief, walking two and striking out one. NYU's Maggie Swan earned the win, evening her record at 6-6 after allowing seven hits and one earned run in seven innings. She walked two and struck out two.
Offensively, DP Haley Nash (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) and Anderson each had two hits for Brandeis, while Paredes had two for the Violets. There were no extra-base hits in the game.
In game two, Brandeis again managed just one run on seven hits, as NYU's Marina Egbert improved to 7-10 on the season. She struck out six and did not walk a batter in seven innings. Brandeis junior Chandra Penton (Newton, Mass./Newton South) suffered her first loss of the season, allowing three runs – only one earned – over the course of three innings. First-year Madeline Gorey (Lake George, N.Y. / Lake George) allowed four runs on four hits in one inning of relief, while Goldman held NYU off the board over their final two at-bats.
At the plate, NYU scored first in the first inning on an RBI single by 1B Hannah Lee. Anderson answered with an RBI single in the second, but Egbert stranded two runners in scoring position with a pair of strikeouts. The Violets scored the winning runs in the third thanks to two costly Brandeis errors. They blew the game open with four in the fifth, including a two-run single by Lee, a wild pitch and an RBI by Paredes.
All seven Brandeis hits – all singles – came from different players. NYU was paced by Lee's three RBI and two runs scored by catcher Elisabeth Smith.
Brandeis will look for a series split with NYU in the finale tomorrow at 11 a.m.