The softball team heads into this week on a three-game winning streak after two victories last week at home against the University of Massachusetts Boston and one victory on the road against Salve Regina University. 

The Judges swept UMass Boston in a doubleheader on Friday, defeating the Beacons 10-6 in the second game and 10-9 in the first game. On Tuesday, Brandeis defeated Salve Regina 9-2 in the second game of a doubleheader. With the victories, the Judges improved to 12-12 overall.

Judges 10, UMass Boston 6

In Friday’s second game, the Judges provided some late-game offense to help starting pitcher Samantha Wroblewski ’17 get her fifth win of the season. 

Brandeis took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when shortstop Anya Kamber ’15 hit a two-run home run. 

UMass Boston responded immediately, scoring one run in the top of the second inning off a single by sophomore first baseman Lauren Mitsiaris. 

The Beacons then took the lead in the third inning scoring two more runs, both unearned. 

After a scoreless fourth inning from both teams, UMass Boston added two more runs in the fifth inning. Brandeis came back with a five-run inning in the bottom half of the inning to take a 7-5 lead. The inning was highlighted by Kamber’s second home run of the game and an RBI single by designated player Allison Hecht ’17. 

UMass Boston scored one run in the sixth inning to come to within a run, but a three-run home run hit by catcher Cori Coleman ’15 put the game out of reach.  Wroblewski pitched a complete game, giving up four earned runs and striking out three. 

Judges 10, UMass Boston 9

In the first game of the double-header Friday, Brandeis nearly lost in extra innings, but a walk-off home run hit by Hecht in the eighth inning gave the Judges the victory. The Beacons broke the game open in the fourth and fifth innings, scoring a combined five runs to take a 6-1 lead. Brandeis followed suit in the fifth and sixth innings, scoring four runs of their own highlighted by a two-RBI single by center fielder Amanda Shore ’18 in the bottom of the fifth inning. Then, down by one run in the bottom of the seventh inning, Shore connected on a home run to lead off the inning and send the game into extra innings. UMass Boston scored three runs in the top of the eighth inning, but the Judges showed resilience to score two runs in the bottom of the eighth to bring the deficit to one run. Then, with a player on first, Hecht sent a pitch over the wall for her first collegiate home run and the walk off home run. 

Hecht said she approached her at bat by moving off of the plate more than she usually does, which helped her hit the inside pitch. “It was the best feeling in the world to help my team win the game in extra innings,” Hecht said.

Starting pitcher Nikki Cote ’15 picked up the win to improve to 4-0 on the season. Cote said the game felt “like a roller coaster. I knew we were not going to give up and [would] keep fighting until we win.”

Judges 9, Salve Regina 2

In Tuesday’s victory over Salve Regina, Brandeis took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first and did not look back. Though Salve Regina scored a run in the bottom of the first, the Judges kept piling on runs, scoring six runs combined in the second, third and fourth innings.  Brandeis came away with the victory behind three innings of work from starting pitcher Cote and relief pitcher Melissa Soleimani ’17. 

With only four sets of double-headers remaining in the regular season, Cote said that the team needs to work on playing a balanced game offensively and defensively. “If one area is having trouble, the other area should step up even more to make up for it. I also think we need to keep hitting and have a strong defense in our next four doubleheaders,” Cote said.

The team will look to keep its winning streak going with a doubleheader at home against Bowdoin College this Friday beginning at 3:30 p.m.