WELLESLEY, Mass. – The Brandeis University softball team handed host Wellesley College a pair of shutout losses today, defeating the Blue 4-0 and 2-0 in a non-conference doubleheader.
TEAM RECORDS
- Brandeis: 10-11.
- Wellesley: 10-10.
HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME ONE
- In the first game, Brandeis opened the scoring in the third inning when they loaded the bases with one out on a pair of singles and a walk. Senior 3B Haley Nash (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) delivered a fly ball to center field that allowed junior 2B Fiona Doiron (Charlton, Mass./Marianapolis Prep) to score. When the ball caromed into the visiting team dugout, sophomore CF Bells Burdenski (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo) also came home, giving the Judges a 2-0 lead.
- Brandeis doubled their lead in the fifth when Burdenski came home on junior SS Anna Kolb's (Alexandria, Va./Thomas A. Edison) single through the left side. Kolb scored on a Nash triple, her first three-bagger of the season, that gave the Judges a 4-0 lead.
- That was more than enough for sophomore Ragini Kannan (Westford, Mass./Westford), who scattered four hits and two walks, striking out nine Blue hitters. She was one shy of her season-high in Ks and her fifth career 10-strikeout game.
- Kannan improved to 6-4 on the season with her second shutout of the year and the sixth of her career, moving her into a tie for sixth on Brandeis's career list.
- Kannan only allowed one runner past second base, when Wellesley's starting pitcher Jillian Colgan tripled with one out. Kannan got the next batter with a called third strike and ended the inning with a swing and a miss.
- Colgan took the loss, allowing five hits and four runs (three earned) in five innings. She walked four and struck out three to fall to 4-2 on the campaign. Colgan also helped her own cause with two of the Blue's four hits.
- Burdenski had two hits and two runs scored for the Judges, while Nash drove in two runs and had a triple in her only official at-bat, delivering the sacrifice fly and walking in her other two plate appearances.
HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME TWO
- Game two was an even tight affair, as Brandeis and Wellesley each finished with six hits, but the Judges were able to push two runs across the plate – one in the first and one in the seventh.
- In the first inning, Burdenski led off the game with a double and moved to third two batters later on a single by Kolb. Nash delivered her second sacrifice fly of the day to plate the only run the Judges would need.
- Brandeis senior Alex Cohen (West Palm Beach, Fla./Benjamin School) kept Wellesley on their heels throughout the game, holding the Blue to six hits. Cohen worked out of a jam in the third, when the hosts had runners on the corners with one out, but she got a strikeout and a fly to center.
- The Blue put two runners in scoring position with two away in the fifth, but Cohen induced a pop to first to end the threat.
- Brandeis added an insurance run in the seventh on an RBI single by junior catcher Tristan Boyer (Chesapeake, Va./Grassfield).
- Wellesley threatened to spoil the shutout bid in the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff hit batter and a one-out single, but Cohen induced a comeback to the circle and pop-up to end the game.
- Cohen improved to 4-7 on the season by scattering six hits over seven innings. She struck out four and did not walk a batter, hitting one. She threw 101 pitches for her first shutout of the season and the fourth of her career.
- With her four strikeouts, Cohen finished the game with 256, needing four more to move into seventh place on Brandeis's all-time list. Cohen's 28th career win moves her into a tie with for 10th place on the all-time list.
- The Judges did not have a multiple hitter, while Burdenski's lead-off double was their only extra-base hit of the game for Brandeis.
- Wellesley's Lauren Young took the loss and fell to 3-3. She threw a complete game as well, allowing six hits and two earned runs, walking two and striking out one.
UP NEXT
- Brandeis kicks off a four-game University Athletic Association series at home on Friday at 3 p.m. against Emory University.
