WALTHAM, Mass. – In a game that was alternately sunny and rain-soaked, the Brandeis University softball team dropped its fifth game in a row against a top-15 team in the nation, as the Judges fell to #14 Tufts University, 12-0, in five innings on Marcus Field today.
TEAM RECORDS
- Brandeis: 13-19.
- Tufts: 27-5, ranked #14 in Division III by National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Coming off a four-game set against #10 Case Western Reserve, the Judges ran into another buzzsaw in the Jumbos.
- Brandeis was held to one hit by Tufts senior Sophia DiCocco, who faced just two batters over the minimum.
- The Judges' lone hit was a single in the fourth inning by senior 3B Haley Nash (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central), while first-year Hannah Fletcher (Bethany, Conn./Amity Regional) reached on a dropped third strike and an error in the third.
- The Jumbos, meanwhile, had 15 hits and drew seven walks en route to their 12 runs. Ten different Tufts players had hits, including all nine starters.
- The visitors got all the scoring they needed in the top of the first when left fielder Lauryn Horita hit a wind-blown home run with two away.
- The Jumbos then plated four runs in the second, five in the third and two in the fourth.
- The top two hitters in the Tufts lineup, 3B Rachel Moore and shortstop Josie Steinberg combined to go 3-7 with six of the team's 12 RBI.
- Catcher Keriann Slayton led the visitors with three hits, while 1B Haley Leimbach scored three runs.
- DiCocoo improved to 11-4 on the season with five innings of one-hit ball, striking out seven without walking a batter.
- Brandeis starter Alex Cohen (West Palm Beach, Fla./Benjamin School) took the loss, falling to 5-11. She lasted two innings, allowing nine hits and nine runs with two walks and a strikeout.
- Fletcher made her first collegiate pitching appearance and went three innings, allowing six hits and three runs (two earned). She walked five without a strikeout.
UP NEXT
- Brandeis heads to the Big Apple for a four-game University Athletic Association series against NYU starting on Friday.