The softball team played three home games this week, two against Colby College on Sunday and one against Babson College on Monday. The team split the two contests, winning 8-0 in the first and falling 7-1 in the second. The Judges also lost to Babson 9-1.

Colby 7, Judges 1

In the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader, the squad let the contest get away early, allowing Colby to score five runs in the opening two innings. Pitcher Melissa Soleimani ’17 allowed the runs while taking the loss for the home team. The defeat dropped her record on the season to 6-9. Colby added two more runs later on in the game off of pitcher Sarah Petrides ’19.   

The Judges struggled on the offensive end during the contest with only one player, outfielder Leah Shapiro ’17, collecting multiple base hits. The squad’s lone run of the game came in the third inning in the form of a sacrifice fly by second baseman Madison Gagnon ’16. 

Judges 8, Colby 0

While the team struggled in the second game, they dominated both sides of the ball in the opening contest of the doubleheader. Pitcher Sadie-Rose Apfel ’18 led the way, only allowing three hits throughout the entire game. That was a collegiate-best for Apfel, who improved her record to 4-3. She improved her mark of career complete games to five and shutouts to two. Apfel also struck out four batters while not allowing a single walk. 

The Judges were able to complement Apfel’s dominant pitching performance with an impressive offensive attack. Catcher Danielle Novotny ’16 put the team ahead for good with a first-inning double that plated a runner. In the third, infielder Liana Moss ’17 connected on her own double to add a run for the home team. Gagnon added two more runs in the fourth inning with another two-bagger. 

A couple of batters later, infielder Madison Sullivan ’16 launched her sixth home run of the season. It was also Sullivan’s 17th of her Brandeis career, which put her in sixth place in program history. The Judges got two more runs across the board when utility player Keri Lehtonen hit a single that netted her two runs batted in. In the game, Lehtonen went an impressive 4-for-4 with two runs scored. Sullivan was the only other Judge with a multi-hit game, going 2-for-2 with two RBIs. 

Babson 9, Judges 1

The visiting team controlled the game throughout the entire day. Babson started the game by connecting on three singles to take an early one-run lead. The team struck again in the third inning when it scored five runs off of Soleimani and Apfel. 

The Judges’ offense was mediocre on the day, collecting only six total hits in the loss. Their one run came off Sullivan’s bat. 

The team’s best chance to get back in the game came in the fifth inning. With one out and the bases loaded, Lehtonen and Gagnon both hit into fielder choices to end the inning. Babson added two insurance runs in the top of the sixth inning to put the game out of reach. 

Lehtonen has been the major contributor for the season as a whole. She has a batting average of .455 to go along with 15 RBIs. Moss is also a consistent performer, with a batting average of .438. Sullivan is the team leader in RBIs, with 23 in the regular season already. 

The squad will play a doubleheader today at home against Smith College, before a road doubleheader against Bowdoin College on Saturday as well as a home doubleheader versus Bates College.   

The Judges handily beat Bates last season and split their season series against Bowdoin in a doubleheader. The Judges will look to increase their win total and salvage their losing record before going into the break. The Judges are third in conference standings with a 6-4 record but sit at 12-13 overall and will need to replicate their previous wins against Bates to push them over the top. 

The squad has lost four of their last five games and will look to break that streak in their upcoming games.