WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University softball team picked a pair of University Athletic Association wins over visiting NYU today, 6-2 and 7-3, as the Judges clinched a win of the four-game series. Brandeis juniors Alex Cohen (West Palm Beach, Fla./The Benjamin School) and Haley Nash (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) combined to go 8-for-14 at the plate with seven RBI, seven run scored, a double and three home runs, while Cohen also picked up a complete-game win in the circle in the opener.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis: 16-9, 9-6 UAA.
• NYU: 17-14, 6-9 UAA.

HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME ONE (Brandeis 6, NYU 2)

• The Judges took advantage of some wildness in the bottom of the first to score two runs on bases-loaded walks to Nash and first-year LF Elle Ehrlich (Falls Church, Va. / Meridian).
• The Violets scored their first run of the series in the top of the third, when Madi Hand hit a solo home run. It was NYU's first round-tripper of the season.
• Brandeis threatened to extend their lead in the fourth but were thwarted before adding a run in the fifth on an RBI double by rookie 1B Maddie Manes (San Clemente, Calif / San Juan Hills) to make it 3-1.
• NYU got that run back on a two-out single by DP Marina Egbert in the top of the sixth before the Judges got three-straight two-out RBI hits in the bottom of the frame: a double by rookie SS Bells Burdenski (San Diego, Calif. / Rancho Bernardo), a single by Cohen and a double by Nash that made it 6-2.
• Cohen worked around a one-out single to complete the game, her fifth of the season an the 16^th of her career.
• Cohen improved to 6-4 on the season after allowing just four hits and two earned runs. She struck out four and did not walk a batter, hitting two with pitches .
• NYU's Emily Stone also went the distance, falling to 4-4 on the season. She gave up eight hits and six earned runs in six innings, walking four with three strikeouts and one hit batter.
• Cohen was also the game's only multiple hitter, going 3-4 with two run scored, a double and an RBI, while Nash drove in two runs.
• Margeaux Lesser had NYU's lone extra-base hit, a double.

HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME TWO (Brandeis 7, NYU 3)

• NYU got off to a quick start in the second contest, loading the bases on a walk, a bunt single and a hit batter. 3B Samantha Burggraf delivered a two-run single to give the visitors the lead.
• Brandeis tried to get one back in the bottom of the first when first-year CF Erin Hunt (Wake Forest, N.C. / Franklin Academy) singled to lead off the game, stole second and moved to third on a one-out wild pitch, but the NYU right-fielder threw her out at the plate trying to score on Cohen's fly ball.
• The Judges knotted the game in the second inning on a key two-out single to left by sophomore catcher Tristan Boyer (Chesapeake, Va./Meridian).
• After the first two Violets reached to start the third, Brandeis coach Dani Bishop called on rookie pitcher Ragini Kannan (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) to relieve junior Rebecca Guerci (Roslyn, N.Y. / Herricks). Kannan induced a rare 6-5-3 double play and a more traditional grounder to short to escape trouble.
• Brandeis made NYU pay in the bottom of the frame, as Cohen singled with two out and Nash followed with a home run to dead center field to make it 4-2.
• The Violets got within a run on Chloe Blanc's RBI single in the fifth, but Cohen and Nash hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the fifth to give Brandeis some breathing room at 6-3.
• Burdenski added one more insurance run with an RBI single in the sixth and Kannan did the rest, working around one-out hits in the sixth and seventh to secure the win.
• Kannan improved to 11-4 this season, moving into a tie for second for the UAA lead in wins. She allowed five hits and one earned run in five innings and struck out four, giving her 92 strikeouts on the season. Kannan ranks second in the UAA in Ks and needs just eight more for the eighth 100-strikeout season by a pitcher in Brandeis history.
• NYU's Angelina Biele allowed 10 hits and six earned runs in 4.2 innings to fall to 3-2 on the season.
• Five different Brandeis players had two hits each, with Nash leading the way by going 2-4 with three RBI and two home runs.
• Nash's two homers move her into second in the UAA in that category with six on the season. They give her 18 for her career, tied for fifth with two others on the Judges' career list.
• Cohen's bomb was her career-high fourth of the season and the ninth of her career.

UP NEXT

• The Judges and Violets will wrap up their series tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 11 a.m.
• Brandeis will be going for its second-ever sweep of the Violets.
• The Judges will celebrate Senior Day before the contest.