In the opening game of a double-header against two different teams to open up its season last Sunday, the softball team was on the verge of beating one of the top-ranked teams in the country.The Judges trailed No. 18 Ithaca College, which last season finished as the No. 4 team in the nation, 2-1 going into the top half of the sixth inning. Brandeis rallied to score two runs to take the lead at 3-2, but the Bombers put together a three-run rally in the bottom half of the inning to go ahead 5-3 and eventually win 6-3 after adding an insurance run later in the game.

"They just jumped on us, and we didn't [and] weren't able to answer back," said shortstop Chelsea Korp '10 about the late rally.

The Judges followed up the close loss with a lopsided one to Penn State University at Erie-Behrend College, 13-0, putting Brandeis at 0-2 to start the season as they prepare for the first two games of the annual University Athletic Association Softball championship round-robin in Florida that begins today.

Against Ithaca, pitcher Emily Vaillette '10 started the game for the Judges, tallying five strikeouts and three walks through 5 2/3 innings.

"It was a tough game. We didn't really make the offensive adjustments until later on in the game, and we never put them away," Vaillette said. "They turned it on, and we made some errors."

Ithaca later followed the victory with a win over another UAA squad, beating No. 15 Washington University in St. Louis 8-2 to improve to 2-0 on the season.

In the Judges' second game, Penn State Behrend, the defending champions of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference, handled Brandeis in a one-sided affair.

Pitcher Allie Mussen '11 started the game for the Judges, but was knocked out of the contest after 1 1/3 innings, having surrendered four walks and hit one batter.

"Overall it was a group mess," Mussen said. "But we gave up a lot of walks and that hurt us throughout.".

Pitcher Erin Thorn '11 came in to try and stop the Lions but also struggled with control, walking three Lion batters in 3 2/3 innings before rookie Caroline Miller '12 took the mound for the final inning in a game that was stopped short in the fifth inning because of the unbalanced score.

Looking ahead, the Judges will kick off the 2009 UAA Softball Championship Tournament in Altamonte Springs, Fla. with a double-header today against Emory at 10 a.m. and then against Carnegie Mellon University at 12:30 p.m.

The Judges hope their tough competition early will help prepare them to face an Emory team that is already 13-1 on the season and has dominated the Judges in the past, going 8-0 and winning by an average margin of almost 10-1 since 2005.

"[Emory is] a team that we've always struggled with but if we play up to our potential, anything can happen," Karp said. "We're definitely looking forward to competing."

Despite the challenges ahead, Vaillette said the Judges are glad to be done with a winless day and can focus on the future.

"We had a rough day," Vaillette said. "But we can't wait to get into UAA action.