The game-tying run rookie shortstop Brittany Grimm '12 drove in against Clark University last Wednesday was unusual; it came on a play in which she reached base on an error and was thrown out trying to advance all the way to third base. When Grimm later came to bat in the top of the eighth inning with the game still tied at one, she drove in runners in a more conventional way.Grimm hit a double to left field with two runners on base, scoring both runs for the Judges, who went on to win the game 3-2 in eight innings. The Judges are now 8-8 overall after losing the second half of the doubleheader to Clark 1-0 and winning both games of a doubleheader at Lasell College March 24.

"I don't think it really matters what class you're in; I think that's what's expected of you anywhere you are in the lineup," second baseman Melisa Cagar '11 said. "It doesn't matter if you're a rookie or if you're a senior; when you come up to bat, we're expecting everyone to do their part and produce runs."

The softball team's home doubleheader against Bates College scheduled for last Sunday was canceled due to rain.

The first game of the doubleheader against Clark was scoreless until the fourth inning, when Clark rookie right fielder Stefanie Kettenacker hit an RBI triple to right center. Brandeis tied the game in the sixth inning when outfielder Samantha Gajewski '12 scored after Grimm reached base on an error by Clark University junior centerfielder Darcy Kurashige-Elliot's error before being thrown out between second and third base.

The game remained tied until the eighth inning, when each team is allowed to place the player who made the last out in the previous inning on second base to start the inning for the sake of speeding up the game. Left fielder Chelsea Korp '10 took that spot for the Judges and Cagar reached base on an error, setting the stage for Grimm's game-winning double, her seventh RBI of the season.

"She hit the ball in the air; whenever that happens you sit there for that half a second, and then once you know no one's going to catch it, you just straight shoot to home plate," Korp said. "[Cagar] came around, and it was just one of those things that was perfect. [Grimm] came up there and did her job."

This was not the first time the Judges have had to come from behind this season. Brandeis fell behind 2-0 in the third inning against the University of Rochester March 12 only to take the lead 3-2 in the fifth in a game they would eventually win by that same score.

They also fell behind 2-0 in the first game of a doubleheader against Wellesley College March 18 before scoring the next four runs to win 4-2.

"It would be a lot better if we could come out there and set up a little better, but we definitely don't want to give up, and I think that's what that [comeback] shows," Korp said.

In the second game against Clark, the Cougars scored their only run of the game in the first inning after Clark junior second baseman Lauren Blake singled to left field and eventually scored off a wild pitch by pitcher Caroline Miller '12. While Miller allowed only six hits and did not give up a run the rest of the way, Brandeis could only manage five hits against Clark sophomore starter Sarah Carter.

"We usually have a tougher time when [Carter] was slower pitching, so that's our biggest concern at the moment," Cagar said. "I wouldn't say that she was a great pitcher. She wasn't doing anything special, it's just we couldn't adjust to her."

Miller, despite the loss, still leads the Judges with a 2.45 ERA and a 4-2 record. Emily Vaillette '10, the winning pitcher of the first game last Wednesday, is right behind her with a 3.02 ERA and a 3-5 record.

Miller and Vaillette have combined to start 14 of the Judges' 16 games this season. They also have accounted for 52 of the team's 63 strikeouts and seven of its eight wins.

The Judges play three doubleheaders next week, starting with one at Worchester Polytechnic Institute tomorrow at 3 p.m.

The team will then come home for its first home games of the season in doubleheaders against Framingham State College Friday at 3 p.m. and against Bowdoin College Sunday at noon.