WALTHAM, Mass. – Playing on campus for the first time this season, the Brandeis University softball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader to Suffolk University, 4-1 and 9-4 in six innings.
TEAM RECORDS
- Brandeis, 9-6.
- Suffolk, 9-7.
HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME 1 (Suffolk 4, Brandeis 1)
- Both teams scored single runs in the first after lead-off hits. Jolie Quintana scored on a Catherine Carignan groundout for the Rams, while Judge senior LF Erin Hunt (Wake Forest, N.C./Franklin Academy) stole second and third before scoring on a grounder by first-year catcher Taryn Rainey (Huntley, Ill./Huntley).
- Suffolk scored the decisive runs in the fourth, as pitcher Lily Newhall helped her own cause by leading off with a home run to center field. Dana Still delivered a two-run single later in the frame.
- A pair of Suffolk pitchers held the Judges at bay the rest of the way. Brandeis left two runners on in the fourth, then went in order in the fifth and sixth.
- The hosts got two more runners on in the seventh, getting them in scoring position when a ball was dropped in right field, but a pop up and grounder to third ended the game.
- Newhall allowed five hits and one earned run in four innings to earn the win and improve her record to 4-3. Cynthia Rucinski threw three innings of one-hit ball, striking out three, to earn her second save.
- Brandeis starter Madeline Jennings (New York, N.Y./Beacon) fell to 2-3 on the season after allowing six hits and four runs (three earned) in 3.1 innings. She struck out two without a walk. Sophomore Jamie Staub (Lawrenceville, N.J./Hun School) threw the last 3.2 frames allowing two hits without a run, striking out two.
- Senior RF Maddie Manes (San Clemente, Calif./San Juan Hills) had two of Brandeis's six hits, including a double. Quintana went 3-4 to pace Suffolk at the plate.
HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME TWO (Suffolk 9, Brandeis 4 – 6 innings)
- In a nightcap that was called after six innings, Suffolk scored in four of their six at-bats, taking a 2-0 lead and answering each time the Judges got on the board.
- Carignan drilled a two-out home run to open the scoring, and Newhall drove in a run after a Julia Mills walk and stolen base to give the Rams a 2-0 lead.
- Brandeis junior SS Katie Baydian (Massapequa, N.Y. Our Lady of Mercy Acad.) picked a two-out RBI in the second to cut the Judges' deficit to 2-1.
- Abby Barnaby hit a two-out, two-run single in the third to put the visitors ahead, 4-1, and the Judges left the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning.
- Brandeis cut its deficit back to one run in the fourth when Baydian drilled a two-run home run to right-centerfield. It was her first homer of the season the second of her career.
- Mills created another run in the fifth, tagging and scoring all the way from second on a Newhall flyout to right.
- First-year catcher Dylan Yamamura (Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury Park) hit a one-out RBI single in the fifth to get the Judges within 5-4, but they again left two runners on.
- With the sun beginning to set in the sixth, Suffolk tacked on four runs on four hits and a walk, then stranded another Judge in the bottom of the inning to close out the sweep.
- Brandeis senior Ragini Kannan (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) took the loss, falling to 4-2, after allowing nine earned runs in 5.1 innings. She threw 136 pitches, walking four and striking out four.
- Rucinski added a win to her save, throwing the final four innings for the Rams to improve to 6-4. She gave up three runs on eight hits with two Ks and two walks.
- Yamamura and Baydian each had multi-hit games, with Baydian going 2-3 with her home run and a career-high three RBI.
UP NEXT
- The Judges head to New York City to meet NYU this weekend at Bahoshy Field at Fordham University in a University Athletic Association series. The Judges and Violets meet for a doubheleader at 5:30 p.m on Friday evening and 7 p.m. on Saturday.
