WALTHAM, Mass. – The 20th-ranked Brandeis University softball team defeated nearby rival Lasell College, 9-6, in the first game of a doubleheader today before playing the Lasers to a 2-2 tie in a game called after six innings because of darkness. The Judges moved to 11-4-1 on the season, while Lasell falls to 5-8-1.
In the opener, the Judges scored in all six innings. They jumped
out to a 4-0 lead after three frames before Lasell scored three in
the top of the fourth to cut the lead to one, 4-3. Brandeis
answered with two in the bottom of the frame and took a 9-3 lead
before the hosts closed out the contest.
The Judges pounded out 11 hits, seven of which were doubles.
Sophomore RF Brittany Grimm (Perkiomenville,
Pa./Perkiomen Valley) led the two-bag attack, going 3-for-4, with
each of her hits for two bases. Grimm drove in three runs and
scored twice. She knocked one run in the third as part of
back-to-back doubles with classmate DP Marianne
Specker (So. Windsor, Conn./Westminster School) – who
scored a game-hhigh three runs - and plated two more with a double
in the fourth.
Senior 3B Danielle Lavallee (Sutton, Mass./Acad. of Notre
Dame) plated what proved to be the game-winning run when she drove
in catcher Erin Ross (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan) from
second with a single through the left side in the fifth inning.
Lavallee and Ross both had multiple hits on the day.
Lasell's big bat in the game one was rookie catcher Candace Hankard
(Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield Memorial), who went 2-for-4 with four
RBI and run scored, included her first collegiate home run. In the
fourth inning, Hankard hit a two-run blast that immediately
followed an RBI triple by junior 1B Ashley Laramie (Lynn,
Mass./Lynn Classical), trimming Lasell's deficit to one run at the
time. Hankard added a two-run single in the seventh that got the
Lasers within four with two on and no one out, but
Brandeis senior pitcher Emily Vaillette (Milford,
N.H./Milford) reentered the game and got the final three outs.
Vaillette pitched seven innings – though she didn't get
credit for a complete game, as rookie Keliann
Kirby (Framingham, Mass./Marion) faced four batters in the
seventh – striking out a season-high eight and walking just
one to improve to 6-3 on the season. Lasell junior Kirsten Mammola
(No. Reading, Mass./Bishop Fenwick) suffered the loss, giving up
seven runs (six earned) in four innings. Mammola allowed nine hits
and walked three while striking out two, falling to 2-4 on the
campaign.
Game two was a pitcher's duel, as the teams combined for just eight
hits in six innings. The Lasers scored the game's first two runs in
the top of the first, as junior 2B Kelley Silvia (Oak Bluffs,
Mass./Martha's Vineyard) was hit by a pitch and scored two batters
later on a two-run home run by Laramie, her second of the campaign.
Hankard followed with a single, but rookie Stacy Berg(Owings
Mills, Md./McDonough) threw her out attempting to steal to end the
inning, one of three Lasell players cut down on the basepaths in
the contest.
Brandeis had their chance to answer in the bottom of the first, but
rookie Alison Saluti (Braintree, Mass./Braintree) worked out of a
bases-loaded jam. The Judges finally got on the board in the third.
Specker led off the frame with a walk, moved to second on a wild
pitch and scored on Grimm's fourth double of the afternoon. Grimm
plated the tying run on a heads-up play, moving to third on a long
fly ball to center hit by Berg and scoring when the attempt to get
her out got past the hot corner.
The final three innings of the contest were tightly played on both
sides. Lasell had two base runners in the fourth, but Brandeis
senior pitcher Allie Mussen (Franklin Square, N.Y./Carey)
started a 1-6-3 double play and Ross threw out another attempted
theft. The Lasers stranded a runner in the fifth and had their
final runner cut down stealing in the sixth.
Meanwhile, Saluti retired the final 11 hitter she faced, eight
coming on fly outs. She finished allowing just three hits, two runs
(one earned) and two walks while striking out two. Mussen fanned
four in four innings of relief for the Judges, walking two and
allowing two hits.
Brandeis is back in action on Saturday afternoon at Salem State
College at 1 p.m., while Lasell hosts Suffolk University in a GNAC
twinbill at noon the same day.
Article courtesy of Brandeis University Sports Information.