WALTHAM, Mass. – The 20th-ranked Brandeis
University softball team defeated nearby rival Lasell College, 9-6,
in the first game of a doubleheader today before playing the Lasers
to a 2-2 tie in a game called after six innings because of
darkness. The Judges moved to 11-4-1 on the season, while Lasell
falls to 5-8-1.
In the opener, the Judges scored in all six innings. They jumped
out to a 4-0 lead after three frames before Lasell scored three in
the top of the fourth to cut the lead to one, 4-3. Brandeis
answered with two in the bottom of the frame and took a 9-3 lead
before the hosts closed out the contest.
The Judges pounded out 11 hits, seven of which were doubles.
Sophomore RF Brittany Grimm (Perkiomenville,
Pa./Perkiomen Valley) led the two-bag attack, going 3-for-4, with
each of her hits for two bases. Grimm drove in three runs and
scored twice. She knocked one run in the third as part of
back-to-back doubles with classmate DP Marianne
Specker (So. Windsor, Conn./Westminster School) –
who scored a game-hhigh three runs - and plated two more with a
double in the fourth.
Senior 3B Danielle Lavallee (Sutton,
Mass./Acad. of Notre Dame) plated what proved to be the
game-winning run when she drove in catcher Erin
Ross (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan) from second with a single
through the left side in the fifth inning. Lavallee and Ross both
had multiple hits on the day.
Lasell's big bat in the game one was rookie catcher Candace
Hankard (Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield Memorial), who went 2-for-4
with four RBI and run scored, included her first collegiate home
run. In the fourth inning, Hankard hit a two-run blast that
immediately followed an RBI triple by junior 1B Ashley Laramie
(Lynn, Mass./Lynn Classical), trimming Lasell's deficit to one run
at the time. Hankard added a two-run single in the seventh that got
the Lasers within four with two on and no one out, but
Brandeis senior pitcher Emily Vaillette (Milford,
N.H./Milford) reentered the game and got the final three outs.
Vaillette pitched seven innings – though she didn't get
credit for a complete game, as rookie Keliann
Kirby (Framingham, Mass./Marion) faced four batters in the
seventh – striking out a season-high eight and walking just
one to improve to 6-3 on the season. Lasell junior Kirsten Mammola
(No. Reading, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) suffered the loss, giving up
seven runs (six earned) in four innings. Mammola allowed nine hits
and walked three while striking out two, falling to 2-4 on the
campaign.
Game two was a pitcher's duel, as the teams combined for just
eight hits in six innings. The Lasers scored the game's first two
runs in the top of the first, as junior 2B Kelley Silvia (Oak
Bluffs, Mass./Martha's Vineyard) was hit by a pitch and scored two
batters later on a two-run home run by Laramie, her second of the
campaign. Hankard followed with a single, but rookie Stacy
Berg (Owings Mills, Md./McDonough) threw her out
attempting to steal to end the inning, one of three Lasell players
cut down on the basepaths in the contest.
Brandeis had their chance to answer in the bottom of the first,
but rookie Alison Saluti (Braintree, Mass./Braintree) worked out of
a bases-loaded jam. The Judges finally got on the board in the
third. Specker led off the frame with a walk, moved to second on a
wild pitch and scored on Grimm's fourth double of the afternoon.
Grimm plated the tying run on a heads-up play, moving to third on a
long fly ball to center hit by Berg and scoring when the attempt to
get her out got past the hot corner.
The final three innings of the contest were tightly played on
both sides. Lasell had two base runners in the fourth, but Brandeis
senior pitcher Allie Mussen (Franklin Square,
N.Y./Carey) started a 1-6-3 double play and Ross threw out another
attempted theft. The Lasers stranded a runner in the fifth and had
their final runner cut down stealing in the sixth.
Meanwhile, Saluti retired the final 11 hitter she faced, eight
coming on fly outs. She finished allowing just three hits, two runs
(one earned) and two walks while striking out two. Mussen fanned
four in four innings of relief for the Judges, walking two and
allowing two hits.
Brandeis is back in action on Saturday afternoon at Salem State
College at 1 p.m., while Lasell hosts Suffolk University in a GNAC
twinbill at noon the same day.
BRANDEIS-LASELL GAME ONE BOX SCORE
BRANDEIS-LASELL GAME TWO BOX SCORE
