WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University softball team dropped its final two games of the regular season today against visiting Tufts University, 6-2 and 9-4. The Judges' final regular-season record winds up at 22-18, while the Jumbos improve to 27-9.
In the opener, Brandeis managed just two hits against Jumbo starter Sophia Dicocco, who walked one and struck out eight as she improved to 12-4 on the season. Sophomore 3B Haley Nash (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) singled in the second inning. In the bottom of the seventh with one on base on a hit batter, senior Amidori Anderson (Sparks, Nevada/Spanish Springs) spoiled Dicocco's shutout bid by dropping a ball down the right field line that the Tufts defender dove for and missed, allowing Anderson to circle the bases for an inside-the-park home run. It was her sixth homer of the season and seventh of her career.
Tufts scored all the runs they would need in the first inning on an RBI single by SS Josie Steinberg and a two-run double by 3B Meggie Murphy. The Jumbos added insurance in the sixth on a home run by 1B Bela Jimenez, a single by Rebecca Moore and a Jiminez single in the seventh, both of which were aided by run-scoring errors. The Jumbos tagged Brandeis sophomore Alex Cohen (West Palm Beach, Fla./Benjamin School) with the loss. She fell to 11-5 with five strikeouts, one walk, four hits and three earned runs in four innings.
The second game was more of a back-and-forth affair. Tufts jumped out to a 3-0 lead, scoring on a double by CF Michelle Adelman in the first and two more in the second on an RBI groundout by RF Lindsay Neumann and a double steal executed by catcher Keriann Slayton.
Brandeis broke through in the third inning on a solo home run by graduate student SS Jolie Fujita (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School). It was her fourth of the season and the 11th of her career. Fujita added a second RBI with a single in the fifth inning, and she came around to score on a two-run single by senior 2B Marley Felder (Miami, Fla./American Heritage School) that gave the Judges a 4-3 lead.
Tufts came right back in the top of the sixth, as Slayton delivered a go-ahead two-run double. The Jumbos blew things open in the seventh with four runs, thanks to a two-run double by DP Keila McCabe and a two-run homer by 1B Lexi Grein.
Brandeis sophomore Rebecca Guerci (Roslyn, N.Y. / Herricks) suffered the loss, falling to 3-5 on the season. She allowed nine hits and five runs (three earned) in 5.1 innings. She struck out one and walked one. Tufts' Sky Johnson threw a complete game to improve to 13-4. She fanned eight and walked two, allowing eight hits and four earned runs.
Fujita went 2-3 with two RBI, two runs scored and a home run in her final home game, while Anderson also had two hits in her final game on Marcus Field.
The Judges conclude their regular season with a 22-18 record, the 14th 20-win season in school history.