WALTHAM, Mass. -- Brandeis University softball senior Ragini Kannan of
Westford, Massachusetts, has earned University Athletic Association Pitcher Athlete of the Week honors for the week ending March 8.
Kannan was nearly untouchable for the Judges in the circle during a trip to Clermont, Florida, to compete in THE Spring Games. In three contests - two starts and a relief appearance - she went 3-0 with just one earned run and 22 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched. Kannan allowed just three hits on the trip, all coming in one inning. She finished with a 0.39 ERA and an .056 opponent's batting average in the three contests.
Kannan opened the trip on March 6 with a five-inning no-hitter against Emmanuel College. She struck out four and walked one to face just one batter over the minimum in the Judges' 14-0 victory. The no-hitter was the first of Kannan's career and the second by a Judges' pitcher in as many seasons.
On March 7, Kannan came on in the fourth inning against Susquehanna with the Judges trailing, 2-1. She kept the River Hawks quiet as Brandeis tied it up in the fifth. They went ahead in the top of the eighth, scoring the international tiebreaker, but Susquehanna answered without a hit in the bottom of the inning. Brandeis scored five runs in the top of the ninth to claim the 8-3 victory, as Kannan threw six more hitless innings with four strikeouts to extend her hitless start to 11 frames.
On March 8 against St. Joseph's (Maine), Kannan reached 14-straight innings without allowing a hit before the Monks had three in the fourth to score the only earned run Kannan allowed. She retired the final nine hitters of the game, seven on strikeouts, to finish with a career-high 14 Ks as Brandeis prevailed, 8-1. It was her sixth career 10-strikeout game and the second-most by a Brandeis pitcher since 2005. With that win, Kannan joined the 30-win club for her career and moved into sixth on the Judges' all-time strikeout list.
The Judges finished the Florida trip with a 5-1 record. They return to action on Saturday afternoon at noon at Wentworth Institute of Technology.
Kannan is a 2022 graduate of Westford Academy.
For more information on Brandeis softball, visit their web page at https://brandeisjudges.com/sports/softball.
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