LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Brandeis University softball team picked up its first win of the season today, as the Judges earned a doubleheader split at Occidental College. The Judges dropped the opener, 4-3, but rallied with their best offensive game of the young season in a 13-5 victory.
TEAM RECORDS
- Brandeis, 1-3.
- Occidental, 4-3.
HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME ONE (Occidental, 4-3)
- The Judges got off to a good start, scoring three times in the top of the first. The first four Brandeis batters reached on two walks and two singles. Sophomore 1B Brooke Boehmer (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) drove in one run with a single, while first-year Jordan Wallace (Howell, N.J./Choate Rosemary Hall, Conn.) and junior Elle Ehrlich (Falls Church, Va./Meridian) each drew bases-loaded walks, giving the Judges a 3-0 lead.
- Judge first-year Jamie Staub (Lawrenceville, N.J./Hun School) retired the first eight Tiger batters before allowing a double and a walk with two away in the third. She stayed out of further trouble until the fifth inning.
- Oxy pulled within a run in the fifth, scoring twice on three hits and a stolen base.
- The home team went ahead in the sixth, loading the bases on two walks and a single with one out. A sacrifice fly tied the game at 3-all, and a single to center gave the Tigers a 4-3 lead.
- Brandeis loaded the bases with one out in the top of the seventh, thanks to an Occidental error, a hit batter and a single by grad student Haley Nash (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central). Oxy senior Zada Day-Adams got two fly-outs to center field to help close out the win with her 130th pitch of the game.
- Boehmer and junior Maddie Manes (San Clemente, Calif./San Juan Hills) each had two hits for the Judges.
- Staub allowed four hits and two earned runs in the first five innings, striking out two and walking one. Classmate Claire Warden (Annandale, Va./Woodson) took the loss with two hits and two runs allowed in one inning of work with two walks and two strikeouts. She falls to 0-1 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME 2 (Brandeis, 13-5)
- The Brandeis offense came alive in the second game. All nine Brandeis starters had a hit, while eight different players scored a run and seven had RBI. The Judges also took advantage of 15 walks issued by Occidental pitchers.
- The Judges batted around in the top of the first, scoring three runs on two hits, four walks and an error. RBIs came from junior Bells Burdenski (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo) on a single up the middle and first-year Katie Baydian (Massapequa, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy Acad.) on a sacrifice fly to left.
- The Tigers threatened in the third inning, getting runners on second and third with one out. They plated one run, but CF Erin Hunt (Wake Forest, N.C./Franklin Acad.) cut down a runner at the plate trying to score on a sacrifice fly to end the frame.
- Brandeis left the bases loaded in the top of the fourth, and Oxy answered with their second run in the bottom of the inning on a single, wild pitch and a Judge error.
- The Judges looked to blow things open with an eight-run top of the fifth inning. They sent 13 hitters to the plate, delivering six hits, including three doubles in a four-batter span. They also drew three more walks. Boehmer and sophomore Hannah Fletcher (Bethany, Conn./Amity Regional) each had two-run doubles in the frame.
- Occidental came down to the last out in the fifth, but delivered three runs in the clutch to stave off the eight-run rule.
- Hunt manufactured a run in the sixth, with a walk and two stolen bases, scoring on a wild pitch to make it 12-5. She also knocked in a run in the top of the seventh with a bases-loaded single to close out the scoring.
- Hunt finished the game reaching base five times, going 2-3 with three walks. She scored two runs and drove in two, while going four-for-five on stolen bases.
- Burdenski reached base in all five plate appearances, going 2-2 with three walks, two runs scored, two RBI, and a double.
- Graduate student Kathryn Vermeulen (Evergreen, Colo./Evergreen) earned her first win in a Brandeis uniform with a seven-inning complete game. She allowed 10 hits and five runs (four earned). She walked two and struck out one, throwing 110 pitches to improve to 1-1 this season.
UP NEXT
The Judges continue their West Coast February trip tomorrow with games at Chapman University starting at 5 p.m. (2 Pacific).