CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Brandeis University softball team got its longest pitching outing in more than a decade today as junior Ragini Kannan (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) threw all nine frames in the Judges' 2-1 road victory over MIT.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis, 8-22-1.
• MIT, 18-9.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The offenses were held in check, with Brandeis getting just four hits and MIT finishing with seven.
• MIT opened the scoring in the second inning. After Kannan issued a leadoff walk, she for the next two batters on pop to second and called third strike. A bunt single moved the runner into scoring position, and a single to right by Layla Thiessen broke the ice.
• The Judges were hitless through the first three innings, but junior CF Bells Burdenski (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo) led off the fourth with a triple. The Engineers got the first out of the inning, but graduate student Haley Nash (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) lofted a sacrifice fly to center to tie the game at 1-all.
• There was not much offense to be found in regulation, with Thiessen delivering two more hits and reaching second each time, but Kannan did not allow her any further in the fifth or seventh.
• With international tiebreaker rules in place in the eighth, Brandeis missed an opportunity in that frame, as a pinch runner was thrown out trying to steal third just in front of a single by senior catcher Tristan Boyer (Chesapeake, Va./Grassfield).
• Kannan got two strikeouts and a fly to right to leave MIT's runner on second in the bottom of the inning.
• The Judges manufactured their winning run in the ninth. With sophomore Katie Baydian (Massapequa, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy Acad.) placed on second, junior RF Maddie Manes (San Clemente, Calif./San Juan Hills) walked to put runners on first and second. Sophomore Brooke Boehmer (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) flew to center to advance Baydian to third, and Nash followed with a single to the hot corner to put the Judges in the lead. MIT left two Brandeis runners on base.
• In the bottom of the inning, MIT bunted the tying run to third, but Kannan got a key called third strike and grounder to third base to end the contest.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Kannan improved to 4-5 with her career-high nine innings. This was the second time she has pitched into the ninth inning, taking a loss against UMass Dartmouth last season. This was just the fourth outing of at least nine innings by a Brandeis pitcher in the last 20 years.  
• Kannan struck out a season-high 11 batters, one short of her career-best 12, which she accomplished three times in 2023. It was her fifth career 10K game.
• She also allowed seven hits and two walks, throwing 141 pitches in total.
• MIT's Katie Katsuyama took the loss after five innings of relief. She allowed two hits and one unearned run, striking out one and walking one.
• Offensively, Manes' triple was the only extra-base hit in the game, while MIT's Thiessen's 4-4 performance was the only multi-hit game.

 
UP NEXT

• The Judges will face #17-ranked Case Western Reserve in a three-game University Athletic Association series starting on Friday at 2:30 p.m. The Judges will host their Spring Pride Game during that doubleheader.