The Brandeis softball team, led by coach Jessica Johnson, opened its season and a weeklong Florida road trip with two games on Sunday in Clermont, Fla. Brandeis defeated University of Pittsburgh-Bradford 10-4 in five innings after defeating Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 7-6 in 10. Offensive support against Pitt-Bradford came from right fielder Brittany Grimm '12, who scored on each of her three singles. Catcher Stacy Berg '13, whose first collegiate home run came as a second-inning grand slam, put the Judges ahead to stay.

Second baseman Melisa Cagar '11 led the game off with a single, reaching second on a throwing error, and coming in to score on a double by left fielder Marianne Specker '12. Specker was then thrown out trying to score on a Berg single, and Berg scored on a fielder's choice to put the Judges up by two.

After the Panthers tied the game off of Miller in the bottom of the inning, Brandeis put up four in the top of the second on the Berg grand slam and coasted from there.

In game one on the day, the Judges quickly gained the upper hand, scoring once in each of the first two innings, and again in the fifth, while holding RPI scoreless.

With their backs to the wall, though, the Engineers broke the 3-0 shutout in the bottom of the seventh, scoring three times and sending the game to extra innings.

The two clubs went blow-for-blow in the next two innings, with Brandeis scoring twice in the top of the eighth and once in the top of the ninth, only to be matched by RPI in the bottom of each of those frames. Finally, after scoring again in the top of the 10th, the Judges were able to hold the Engineers scoreless in the bottom half to claim the victory.

That type of back-and-forth, said shortstop Chelsea Korp '10, can be mentally draining for a team.

"That's probably one of the tougher aspects of a game like that because you think you have it, and then they come back," said Korp. "We really pulled it together as a team and came through. We, I think in past years, probably would have lost a game that was that close and that tight going into so many innings, but I think it shows a lot of good things on our part that we pulled it out."

The Judges struck first with a leadoff double from Cagar to open the game. She scored on another two-bagger from Specker. After Brandeis scored again on left fielder Carly Schmand's '11 single in the second, Cager came home a second time, leading led off the fifth with a walk, stealing second and scoring on a throwing error by the catcher.

The Engineers then put up 3 runs in the bottom of the seventh to send the game into extra innings. After failing to hold leads in the eighth and ninth, Specker scored on a wild pitch in the top of the tenth, and pitcher Caroline Miller '12 came on in relief of pitcher Emily Vaillette '10 to set RPI down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning and seal the Judge's victory.

Before Sunday, the team's last game came May 10 of last year, when they failed to defend their 2008 Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III New England championship title, losing 11-1 to Keene State College in the tournament finals. The Judges earned top seed in the ECAC tournament in both the 2008 and '2009 seasons and have made the trip in each of Johnson's three seasons as coach.

From last year's roster, 16 of 19 players are returning, including most of the starters. That is compounded with first-year talent from pitchers Casey Ducinski '13 and Keliann Kirby '13, and Berg, whose grand slam in her second collegiate game made her presence known early. These factors, said Korp, makes the team a force to be reckoned with:

"I think we look really good," said Korp. "We gained a lot of talent with the freshman class. We are looking solid on defense. We have pretty much all of our starters returning . and I think we're hitting better."

One returning player of note is Cagar, who last year was a first-team All-Region selection by both the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and the New England Intercollegiate Softball Coaches Association (NEISCA). Cagar stared every game and led the team in batting average, hits, runs scored and stolen bases and ranked in the top five for University Athletic Association players in each category.

The round robin UAA tournament begins today as the Judges take on Emory University and Washington University in St. Louis. The Altamonte Springs, Florida, tournament continues until Sunday, with Brandeis playing Rochester University and Case Western Reserve University on Thursday, Emory on Friday, WashU and Rochester on Saturday, and Case again on Sunday.

The Judges begin their New England schedule at Brandeis on Wednesday, March 17, taking on Wellesley College.