The women’s softball team traveled to Florida last week for the University Athletic Association conference tournament, where the squad picked up three wins, pushing their record to 6-7 overall and 3-7 in UAA games. 

In the 10 games that the Judges played in they lost 9-3 and 9-1 to Rochester University; 9-7 to Case Western Reserve University; 10-5 and 5-4 to Emory University and 6-0 and 5-2 to Washington University in St. Louis. 

The team’s three wins came against New York University, by a score of 9-3 and 12-4, and against Case Western 5-2. 

WASHU 5, JUDGES 2

The squad closed the tournament on Sunday with a 5-2 loss to No.23 WashU. Pitcher Samantha Wroblewski ’17 picked up the loss for the team, pitching all six innings while giving up five earned runs. Wroblewski allowed 12 hits and one walk, striking out one and walking only one batter. 

With the loss, Wroblewski moves to 3-6 on the year, including five complete games. Wroblewski finishes the week with a season ERA of 4.55, while averaging 3.48 strikeouts per game. 

Wroblewski has tossed 52.1 innings so far this year with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 1.74.

Both of the Judges’ runs in the contest came from solo home run shots from outfielders. The first came in the top of the third from outfielder Amanda Shore ’18, her first home run of her first season. 

This was followed in the ensuing inning by outfielder Madison Hunter’s ’17 blast that marked her second of the year. WashU’s pitching staff held the Judges to only five hits on the day, while striking out 10. When the team did manage to put people on base, they failed to capitalize, leaving six runners on base throughout the game. 

NO. 8 EMORY 5, JUDGES 4

The Judges were able to take the No. 8 Emory to extra innings before falling just short of an upset victory on Saturday afternoon. The game began poorly for the team as Emory junior second baseman Hannah Sendel hit her tournament-record seventh home run of the week. Pitcher Melissa Soleimani got the start for the Judges and threw four complete innings while allowing four runs. The team was down 4-0 going into the sixth inning when its comeback began. 

Catcher Cori Coleman ’15 started off the hit parade with a single to the outfield. Coleman was followed by a Hunter home run that put the Judges on the scoreboard. 

Later in the inning, with runners on first and third, the team performed an impressive double steal, allowing Shore to steal home. In the same at bat, second baseman Madison Gagnon ’16 singled to left field and tied up the score at four runs apiece. The score remained tied for the rest of the inning and the seventh. The game then went into extra innings as the Judges looked to pull of the upset. 

The team went down without noise in the top of the eighth inning, while the Eagles were able to score the game-winning run in the bottom of the inning with a walkoff double off Wroblewski.  

Coleman was optimistic about the team’s chances for the week. “For this trip we were really focused on playing every game the best we could and hopefully coming out of the week with a UAA championship.We had worked really hard this past offseason and all preseason, and we wanted to prove ourselves this trip.” 

JUDGES 5, CASE 2

Earlier in the day on Saturday, the Judges notched their third tournament win over the Spartans. Case scored both of their runs in the bottom of the second inning off of a home run. Down 2-0 in the top of the fourth, the Judges were finally able to put a run on the board when Coleman hit a solo shot. 

First baseman Jordan Buscetto ’16 added to the cause in the sixth with an RBI single that scored pinch runner Natasha Quiroz ’15. 

Coleman, who finished the day going 3-4, would continue her excellent hitting in the seventh when she doubled in two runners, Gagnon and shortstop Anya Kamber ’15. Coleman is second on the team in RBIs with eight, behind only Gagnon’s nine. 

The catcher had three of the team’s overall four hits in the game, with the last coming from Buscetto.

Wroblewski picked up the win for the Judges, going the distance yet again while only allowing two earned runs in the contest. 

She allowed six hits and two walks, while striking out one batter. Coleman remarked that the tournament was an important trip for the team. 

“We now know that we can beat some of the best teams in the country. While some of the games did not end the way we wanted, we were able to compete against all of the teams we saw.”

After the tournament, Coleman leads the team in batting average with .436. She is closely followed by outfielder Amanda Genovese ’15, who is hitting at an average of .423. Coleman and infielder Madison Sullivan ’16 are tied for the team lead with 10 runs scored. The speedy Genovese and Sullivan lead the team with three steals apiece.

Coleman and the team have high aspirations for the future.

“Our goal is still to make NCAAs. If we play as well as we all know we can, then this goal is definitely possible. We are excited to see where this season takes us.”  

The Judges will be back in action on Saturday with a doubleheader on the road at Clark University, with games at noon and 2 p.m.