After beginning the season with 12 straight games on the road, the softball team returned home and made sure to begin last Wednesday's doubleheader against Simmons College with a bang.With one run already in and two outs in the second inning of the first game, second baseman Melisa Cagar '11 sent the ball over the centerfield fence for a three-run home run, the first of her collegiate career, to give the Judges a 4-0 lead in a game they'd eventually win 6-3.

"It was really exciting, because the first at-bat [in the first inning] I struck out, so coming into the second at-bat, I just wanted to make contact, and luckily it went over the fence," Cagar said.

In the second game, the Judges fell behind in the third inning and lost 9-3. Their record is now 6-7-1 this season.

Third baseman Danielle Lavallee '11 led off the bottom of the second inning in the first game with a walk, and Lauren Rashford '10, who pinch ran for Lavallee, stole second base.

Rashford advanced to third base on catcher Erin Ross' '10 single and then came home to score the first run when Ross stole second base.

"[We wanted to] get on the board first if we could, and we really felt that with their pitching that we should be able to do that, so it's kind of nice that that all fell into place for us," coach Jessica Johnson said.

Designated hitter Allie Mussen '10 and right fielder Victoria Roomet '09 then reached base in consecutive at-bats, setting the stage for Cagar's three-run home run.

"Since [Cagar] started in Florida, she's really come around with the bat, and she's always been solid defensively," Johnson said.

"This is what we brought her in here to do, to lead off with the opportunity to get on base, and she's actually proved to be much more than that. She's hitting for power and she's taking extra bases when she can."

In the third inning, pitcher Kate Streilein '08 singled and Lavallee doubled, scoring Streilein when Simmons senior shortstop Ann Talarico committed a throwing error.

First baseman Courtney Kelley '11 then scored Lavallee on a sacrifice fly to give the Judges a 6-0 lead.

The lead was not threatened until the sixth inning.

Simmons put runners on first and second base with no outs in the sixth inning, but Cagar and shortstop Chelsea Korp '10 turned a double play to help quell the threat.

"Me and [Korp] are getting more accustomed to each other now that we're the middle infielders, and we do have a very smooth transition with our double plays," Cagar said.

Rookie third baseman Dannie Szabo hit a double that sailed just over Korp's glove to put Simmons on the board after the double play, but Streilein snagged senior pitcher Natalie West's line drive to end the inning.

Streilein finished with nine strikeouts while allowing just six hits to keep Simmons off the scoreboard until the sixth inning.

"I was throwing a lot of curveballs and keeping the ball outside. That seemed to work well against their hitters," Streilein said.

In the second game, the Sharks struck early off starting pitcher Emily Vaillette '10, who dropped to 0-3 this season with the loss.

With the score tied at one, Vaillette surrendered four hits in the third inning that led to three Sharks runs.

The biggest blow was West's two-run home run to right-center field, which gave the Sharks a 4-1 lead they wouldn't relinquish.

"For the most part, they just made their adjustment to the velocity of our pitchers, and they got the job done, and we didn't," Johnson said.

Brandeis took advantage of Simmons' three errors in the fifth inning to cut Simmons' lead to 4-3, but Simmons scored five runs in the top of the seventh inning to put the game out of reach.

The Sharks loaded the bases with one out, and after Szabo hit an RBI single, West cleared the bases with a grand slam off Streilein, who relieved Vaillette in the third inning.

Brandeis goes back on the road today, as they play a doubleheader at Worcester Polytechnic Institute at 3 p.m.

The Judges will follow that with a doubleheader against Regis College Thursday at 4 p.m., a game at home against Framingham State College Friday at 3 p.m. and a game against Clark University Saturday at noon.