The softball team had a successful showing on the road this weekend, coming out on top in both double-header games at Colby College. The wins mark an upswing for the squad, which dropped four games against Washington University in St. Louis the week before. 

Judges 5, Colby 2

The squad had a relatively slow start to the second game of the double-header, with two quick outs being recorded at the start of the first inning. Doubles from left fielder Marissa DeLaurentis ’19 and shortstop Madison Hunter ’17 got the game moving, with DeLaurentis crossing home plate for the first run of the game. 

Pitcher Callie MacDonald ’20 came out of the gate strong in the bottom of the first, allowing only one hit. 

First baseman Allison Hecht ’17 singled in the top of the second, scoring a run off a double from third baseman Brianna Urena ’20. The latter, in turn, scored a run with a hit from right fielder Keri Lehtonen ’19. 

A quick succession of outs closed out the second inning for Colby and the top of the third for the Judges, with neither team managing any runs. MacDonald let up two hits in the bottom of the third, with Colby first baseman Vanessa Warshaw, a junior, crossing home off a double. 

Brandeis pushed back in the next inning, with two Colby errors and a single from Lehtonen pushing catcher Caroline Sippin ’20 across home plate for another run. This strong performance continued on to the fifth inning after an uneventful bottom of the fourth, with doubles from Hunter and Hecht resulting in a scored run from the former. 

Both squads failed to score any runs in the sixth inning.  Sophomore Colby pitcher Wiley Holton walked Lehtonen and second baseman Marysa Massoia ’19 managed the only hit of the inning with a single, advancing Lehtonen to second. 

The top of the seventh came to a quick close as the Judges recorded three successive outs. The squad showed slight fatigue in the outfield at the bottom of the inning, giving up a run with an error to close out the game. 

Judges 11, Colby 0

The Judges started strong against the Mules, scoring the first two runs of the day in the top of the first. Hecht smacked a single that brought in rookie pitcher Scottie Todd ’20 and DeLaurentis to score. 

Todd took the mound in the bottom of the first, walking Colby shortstop Katie McLaughlin, a senior, and giving up one base hit, but came out of the inning unscathed. The squad managed to hold off Colby for the next three innings, giving up only two singles in the bottom of the third. 

Things started to heat up again in the top of the fifth, with singles from Massoia, Urena and Lehtonen. Center fielder Amanda Shore ’18 reached on a fielder’s choice, ultimately scoring a run off Lehtonen’s hit. 

Todd kept up the pace in the bottom of the fifth, striking out Colby left fielder Carly Swartz, a freshman, and letting up only one single in the penultimate inning. 

The Judges showed strong performances at the plate in the sixth, kicking it off with a single from Hunter, who then advanced to second as third baseman PJ Ross ’20 reached first on an error. Hunter and Ross scored runs with a double from Hecht, who advanced to third on a single from Shore.

Urena singled and advanced to second base on an error, bringing home Shore and Hecht for two more runs. Urena herself snagged a run with singles from Todd and Lehtonen as the Mules swapped their struggling freshman pitcher Lucie Cunningham for sophomore Holly Lallis. 

Cunningham let up another three runs, with Todd, DeLaurentis and Hunter all crossing home plate. With three runners left on base, the squad proceeded to the bottom of the sixth, letting up zero runs or hits for a strong finish to the game.

With these two wins in the books, the Judges will look to keep the streak going today with a double-header at home against Worcester State University.