MEDFORD, Mass. – The Brandeis University softball team played a back-and-forth contest with 9^th-ranked Tufts University today before the Judges fell, 10-5, to the Jumbos in the first game of a doubleheader. Tufts led the second game of the twin-bill, 5-0, after five innings when the game was suspended due to darkness.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis: 11-4.
• Tufts: 17-1, ranked #9 in Division III by National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Tufts scored single runs in the first and second innings on RBI singles by catcher Kaitlyn Perucci and LF Kat Yuzefpolsky.
• The Judges bounced back in the fourth inning with four runs, three of which were unearned. With the bases loaded and one out, first-year SS Bells Burdenski (San Diego, Calif. / Rancho Bernardo) scored on an error at first base. Classmate CF Erin Hunt (Wake Forest, N.C. / Franklin Academy) followed with an RBI single to left, while rookie 1B Maddie Manes (San Clemente, Calif / San Juan Hills) flew to left and saw the ball dropped for an error allowing the third run to score.
• Junior designated player Alex Cohen (West Palm Beach, Fla./The Benjamin School) followed with another sacrifice fly to give Brandeis a 4-2 lead. The Judges loaded the bases on a walk to junior 3B Haley Nash (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central), but Burdenski's grounder to short ended the frame.
• Tufts roared back in the bottom of the fifth with three more runs, tying things on an RBI double by Rachel Moore and taking a 5-4 lead on 1B Haley Lembach's single.
• Nash came up in the sixth with runners on second and third and two away, and her ball to second base was booted, allowing Maines to score the tying run.
• In the bottom of sixth, Tufts capitalized on a pair of early Brandeis errors to go on to score five unearned runs, taking the lead on Perucci's sac fly to right and blowing things open on two-run  singles by Josie Steinberg and Leimbach.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Brandeis first-year starter Ragini Kannan (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) suffered her first collegiate loss, allowing 13 hits and 10 runs (five earned) in six innings of work. She struck out four and walked one, but her record drops to 8-1.
• Sophia Dicocco picked up the win in relief, allowing three hits and one unearned run in three innings of work. She had no walks or strikeouts and moved to 6-1 on the season.
• Brandeis's offense was paced by Hunt, who was 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Manes also had two hits, plus her sac fly for an RBI.
• Five different Brandeis players scored runs.
• Tufts' offense was led by Leimbach (3-4, 3 RBI), Perucci (3-3, 2 RBI, R) and 2B Bela Jiminez (3-4, 2 R).

GAME TWO

• In the second game played between the two teams, Tufts scored five runs in the bottom of the first while holding Brandeis scoreless through five. The game was suspended because of darkness, with no completion day yet established.

UP NEXT

• The Judges head to Cleveland for four more games against a top-10 opponent, #8 Case Western Reserve, starting with a single game on Friday at 3 p.m.