WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University softball team extended its winning streak to eight in a row with a 3-1 win in the opening game of a University Athletic Association series with Washington University, but the Bears earned a split with a 9-0 six-inning victory in the nightcap.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis: 19-10, 11-7 UAA.
• Washington U: 18-16, 10-8 UAA.

HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME ONE (Brandeis 3, Washington U. 1)

• Brandeis first-year pitcher Ragini Kannan (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) nearly tossed her fifth shutout of the season, but did earn her 11^th complete game, scattering eight hits over the seven innings. She improved to 12-4 on the season.
• Kannan struck out six, moving within two of reaching the 100-strikeout plateau for the season, a feat that has been achieved only eight times in program history. She walked only one.
• The Judges opened the scoring in the bottom of the first as rookie CF Erin Hunt (Wake Forest, N.C. / Franklin Academy) led off the game with a triple and scored two batters later on a single by junior DP Alex Cohen (West Palm Beach, Fla./The Benjamin School).
• Hunt crossed the plate again in the third inning, reaching on an error to lead off the inning. She stole second and scored when classmate SS Bells Burdenski (San Diego, Calif. / Rancho Bernardo) singled and saw an errant throw allow Hunt to score.
• Burdenski reached on an error again in the fifth inning and scored two batters later on junior 3B Haley Nash's (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) single.
• WashU spoiled the shutout bid in the sixth when Erin Reardon singled and Tami Wong doubled with one out. DP Ashley Kennedy brought home a run with a grounder to short, but that was all the visitors could muster.
• Cohen led the Brandeis offense with two hits and an RBI, while Hunt's triple and Manes' double were the team's lone extra-base hits.
• 2B Katie Gould had three of the team's eight hits, going 3-4.
• Holly Stoner took the loss in the circle for the Bears, falling to 5-7, after allowing three runs (one earned) on seven hits in six innings. She struck out four and walked one.

HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME TWO (WashU 9, Brandeis 0 – 6 innings)

• WashU's offense exploded for nine runs on 14 hits in the second game. The Bears put together a five-run second inning, then scored two runs each in the fourth and sixth frames.
• WU starter Jordan Rossi improved to 8-4 in the circle. She retired the first 14 batters she faced until Brandeis sophomore catcher Tristan Boyer (Chesapeake, Va./Grassfield) doubled with two out in the fifth.
• Senior RF Lily Medici (New City, N.Y./Clarkstown North) added an infield single in the sixth, but those were the Judges' only two baserunners.
• WashU's big hitter was CF Maggie Baumstark, who drove in four runs – three in the second with a bases-clearing single and one in the fourth on a fielder's choice.
• Eight different WashU players scored runs, with only SS Jamie Cendana scoring twice.
• Cohen took the loss in the circle, falling to 7-5 on the season. She allowed seven runs on seven hits with two strikeouts in 3.1 innings.
• Senior Chandra Penton (Newton, Mass./Newton South) allowed seven hits but just two unearned runs in 2.2 innings of relief.

UP NEXT

• Brandeis and Washington U. will play two more games tomorrow starting at noon. A split will clinch Brandeis a second-place finish in the UAA.