WALTHAM, Mass. - The Brandeis University softball team earned a
split with the Tufts University Jumbos, the No. 5 team in the
nation according to the NFCA, spoiling the Jumbos' attempt at a
perfect regular season today on Marcus Field. Tufts earned a win in
the opener, 3-0, to run their winning streak to 35 games, but it
came to a halt with a 2-1 Brandeis win in the nightcap.
In the first game, Tufts (35-1)
scored their three runs on just two hits thanks to aggressive
base-running. Senior CF Laura Chapman (Seattle, Wash./Bush School)
led the way, going 1-2 with two stolen bases and two runs scored.
Chapman opened the scoring in the first, as she walked and stole
second. Two outs later, senior RF Maya Ripecky (Chicago,
Ill./Northside) hit a ball up the middle that Brandeis junior SS
Chelsea Korp (Worcester, Mass./Holy Name) knocked
down. Ripecky beat the throw to first, while Chapman never stopped
at third and beat the return throw home.
Brandeis's (23-15) best chance to
knot the game came in the fifth inning, when they loaded the bases
with two outs, but Tufts senior Lauren Gelmetti (Westfield,
N.J./Westfield) got out of trouble with a called third strike. The
Jumbos added two insurance runs in the sixth. Chapman again got
things started, singling to third base and stealing second.
Brandeis rookie Caroline Miller (Bala Cynwyd,
Pa./Harriton) fanned Tufts senior 2B Danielle Lopez
(Danvers, Mass./Danvers). Unfortunately for the hosts, a dropped
third strike and an errant throw to first allowed Chapman to score
and Lopez to get to third, coming home on a long fly ball to center
field by junior 1B Christy Tinker (Woodbridge,
Conn./Amity).
Gelmetti improved to 15-0 on the
season with her eighth complete-game and fifth shutout of the
campaign. She struck out five and walked just one. Miller fell to
11-5 with six innings of two-hit ball, allowing just one earned
run. She fanned two and walked three.
In the nightcap, the Jumbos got
out ahead once again. Senior 3B Samantha Kuhles (Somerville,
N.J./Rutgers Prep) singled to centerfield with one out and stole
second. Ripecky moved her over with a ground out to second, while
Tinker got the RBI with a single to right.
After stranding two runners in
the third inning, the Judges finally broke through in the fourth,
taking advantage of the first two Tufts miscues of the day. After
junior C Erin Ross (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan)
singled with one out, rookie RF Brittany Grimm
(Perkiomenville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) beat out a double
play ball to extend the inning. Sophomore 3B Danielle
Lavallee (Sutton, Mass./Notre Dame Acad.) followed with a
single to left and an errant throw back in to the infield allowed
the runners to advance to second and third. A passed ball produced
the game-tying run from Grimm. After a walk put runners on the
corners, the next batter was sophomore 1B Courtney Kelley
(Leicester, Mass./Notre Dame Acad.). Kelley sent a ball to
deep center field. Chapman was able to get to the ball, but the
collision with the fence knocked it loose, allowing the
game-winning to score as Kelley wound up on second with a double.
Tufts got runners on base in each
of the last three innings, but Brandeis junior Emily
Vaillette (Milford, N.H./Milford) was able to
dance around the trouble. Her defense helped out, as Ross erased an
attempted stolen base in the sixth. Vaillette scattered seven hits
in the win, striking out two and walking just one in her
14th complete game of the season. She improves to 10-8
on the season. Kelley was Brandeis's only multiple hitter, going
2-2 with her doubles, the only extra-base hit of the day.
For the Jumbos, sophomore Izzie
Santone (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) suffered her first loss of the
season, falling to 16-1 with two unearned runs. She struck out one
and walked two. Kuhles and senior leftfielder Alison Drobiarz (Old
Saybrook, Conn./Old Saybrook) each had two of the Jumbos' seven
hits.
Brandeis wraps up the regular
season with a twinbill against Emerson on Saturday at 11 a.m.,
while Tufts hosts the NESCAC tournament this weekend starting on
Friday.
GAME
ONE BOX SCORE
GAME
TWO BOX SCORE
- 30 -
