WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University softball team rallied from a three-run deficit to pick up an 8-3 victory over visiting Carnegie Mellon University to complete a four-game sweep of the Tartans in University Athletic Association play today on Marcus Field.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis: 9-1, 4-0 UAA.
• Carnegie Mellon, 8-10, 0-4 UAA.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After being held to two runs over the first three games of the series, CMU broke out with three runs in the top of the third. With two away, the Tartans sent a pair of solid singles to center field, followed by a blast to left-center field that carried over the fence for CF Kiera Boucher.
• The Judges answered in the bottom of the fourth after first-year SS Bells Burdenski (San Diego, Calif. / Rancho Bernardo) led off with a double. Two batters later, she crossed the plate just before the tag on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore 2B Anna Kolb (Alexandria, Va. / Thomas A. Edison). First-year LF Elle Ehrlich (Falls Church, Va / Meridian) delivered a sacrifice fly to center to cut the deficit to one, and classmate 1B Maddie Manes (San Clemente, Calif / San Juan Hills) singled under the second base glove to tie the game at 3-all.
• Brandeis had two on with one away in the fifth inning when CMU pulled starter Haley Pucci for Grace Fujino. Brandeis junior DP Alex Cohen (West Palm Beach, Fla./The Benjamin School) greeted the new pitcher with her third home run of the season, to left center field. It was the eighth of her career, and it gave the Judges a 6-3 lead.
• The hosts added two more runs after the bomb on a two-run single by Manes that provided the final 8-3 score.
• Judge first-year pitcher Ragini Kannan (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) threw three innings of two-hit ball in relief of Cohen to earn the win and improve to 6-0 on the season.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Manes was the lone multiple hitter for the Judges, who scored their eight runs on seven hits, the same amount as the Tartans.
• Manes and Cohen tied for game-high honors with three RBI, along with CMU's Boucher.
• Hunt and Burdenski each had doubles, as did Abbey Reese of the Tartans.
• Kannan had three strikeouts, while Cohen had five in four innings as the starter. Cohen allowed five hits and three earned runs. She did not walk a batter.
• CMU's Pucci took the loss, falling to 0-3 on the campaign, after allowing four hits and five runs in 4.1 innings of work.

UP NEXT

• The Judges head to Atlanta for a four-game UAA set against the Eagles next weekend starting on March 31^st.