WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University softball team took a 6-1 loss in the finale of their University Athletic Association series with Emory University today.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis: 11-14, 5-7 UAA.
• Emory: 19-13, 5-7 UAA.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The teams were playing their first game of the four-game series on campus after three in a row played at Bentley University's Turf Field because of rain and other wet conditions.
• After two scoreless innings, Emory broke through with three runs in the third. First-year DP Ellie Zerr delivered a two-out, two-run single. Sophomore 1B Ella Hoyle followed with an RBI single, but Zerr was thrown out trying to from first to third, ending the inning with the Eagles owning a 3-0 lead.
• The Judges loaded the bases in the bottom of the third, but NYU starter Georgia Pineda got a fly to center to escape the jam.
• The Eagles added a run in the third on a Brandeis error and two more in the fifth when the first three hitters reached, the last being a two-run single by Hoyle.
• Brandeis spoiled Pineda's shutout bid in the sixth inning when senior Haley Nash (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) led off the inning with a home run to centerfield. It was Nash's team-leading seventh of the season, tying her career-high.
• Nash now has 26 career home runs, two shy of second place and five out of first on the Judges' all-time list.
• Pineda worked around a two-out single in the seventh to compete the game.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Pineda improved to 5-2 on the season by scattering seven hits over seven innings of work. She allowed one earned run, striking out two and walking two.
• Brandeis sophomore Ragini Kannan (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) took the loss, falling to 7-6 on the season. She gave up 12 hits, six runs (five earned), three walks and two strikeouts.
• At the plate, Brandeis was paced by Nash, who went 1-3 with the team's only RBI on her home run.
• Senior DP Alex Cohen (West Palm Beach, Fla./Benjamin School) and sophomore LF Elle Ehrlich (Falls Church, Va./Meridian) each had two hits for the Judges, while junior catcher Tristan Boyer (Chesapeake, Va./Grassfield) had the team's only extra-base hit beside Nash's home run with a double.
• Emory's Hoyle went 4-4 with three RBI, while Zerr was 2-3 with two RBI, a run scored and a double.

PREGAME HONOR

• The Judges were celebrating Pride Day in support of Brandeis's LGBTQ+ community.
• Before the game, Brandeis Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lee Bitsoi threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

UP NEXT

• The Judges are back in action on Monday, April 15, when they take on WPI. The teams will conclude a contest from March 22 at 3:30, and then play an additional full contest.