Judges, Seahawks split in non-league softball doubleheader

WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University and Salve Regina University softball teams met for a doubleheader on Marcus Field today and each squad took a victory in a pair of pitcher's duels. Brandeis won the opener, 3-1, while Salve Regina took the nightcap, 3-2. The Judges are 16-17 on the season, while the Seahawks move to 20-16.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

•In the opener, Brandeis junior Melissa Soleimani (Somerset, Mass./Somerset Berkley Regional) outdueled SRU junior Kelsey Boarman (North Dighton, Mass./Coyle-Cassidy).
•Both players allowed six hit each, but Soleimani held the Seahawks to one run, while Boarman allowed three.
•Soleimani had two strikeouts without a walk. Boarman fanned five and issued two free passes.
•Salve opened the scoring on a Nikki Bukovsky (Westport, Conn./Staples) RBI single in the first.
•The Seahawks loaded the bases with no one out, but Soleimani got out of it with a force at home and a fly to center.
•The Judges responded with two in the bottom of the frame, with senior Madison Gagnon (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake) and junior Madison Hunter (Parker, Colo./Legend)driving in the runs.
•Brandeis added a run in the second when rookie Marissa DeLaurentis (Centereach, N.Y./St. John the Baptist Diocesian) blasted the first pitch she saw over the left field fence. It was her second home run of the season.
•Soleimani took it from there, retiring the side in order in five of the last six innings, including with the help of a line-drive double play in the fifth.

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

•In game two, SRU senior Nicole Parry (Quincy, Mass./Quincy) bested Brandeis sophomore Sadie-Rose Apfel (Stamford, Conn./Westhill) in the circle.
•Both pitchers only allowed one earned run, but Parry limited the damage from her eight hits and five walks, giving up two runs total.
•Apfel gave up just five hits and struck out two without walking a batter, but three Brandeis errors contributed to two unearned runs.
•Salve leadoff hitter Francesca Galeazzi (Lynn, Mass./Lynn Classical) led off with a single, stole second and moved to third on a groundout.
•Salve's Elizabeth Lombardo (Thomaston, Conn./Holy Cross) grounded to third, allowing Galeazzi to score, and a throw in the dirt put Lombardo on first safely.
•After a single by junior Kara O'Riley (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxborough) put runners on first and second, rookie Emily Woznik (Sandy Hook, Conn./Newtown) grounded to short.
•Brandeis freshman Marysa Massoia (Feeding Hills, Mass./Suffield Acad.) went to third with her throw, but it was dropped, loading the bases. Lombardo scored the second run for the Seahawks on a passed ball before Apfel stranded two in scoring position with back-to-back strikeouts.
•The Judges had base runners in their first three at-bats before breaking through in the fourth.
•A walk, a Hunter double and a dropped throw at first loaded the bases with one out.
•Massoia drew the second free pass of the inning to cut the Brandeis deficit to 2-1, but Parry got two grounders to short, one producing a force at the plate, to keep the visitors ahead.
•The Judges loaded the bases again in the sixth on a hit and two walks, but a Parry K left the bases loaded again.
•SRU scored a key insurance run in the top of the seventh. Junior Lexi Souci (North Easton, Mass./Oliver Ames) reached on an error and was forced at second on a Genvieve Benoit (Swampscott, Mass./Swampscott) grounder to short.
•Benoit stole second and scored on a single up the middle by rookie Megan Guest (Meriden, Conn./Maloney).
•The run came into play when Madison Gagnon led off the bottom of the seventh with her first home run of the season.
•Guest made a spectacular play on Brandeis senior Madison Sullivan (Dover, N.H./Dover) on the next at-bat, going over her shoulder to run down a ball as she approached the right field fence.
•That was key, as junior Alison Hecht (Melville, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) followed with a single that probably would have plated a run.
•The Judges eventually got the tying and winning runs in scoring position, but Parry got a pop to second base to end the game. •Brandeis got three hits from Gagnon (3-4, RBI, R, HR) and two each from Hecht (2-3, BB) and Hunter (2-4, 2B).

UP NEXT

•The Judges head to New York City this weekend to play four games against UAA rival NYU, Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at noon.
•Salve Regina University's regular season is complete and the Seahawks will be the third seed in the Commonwealth Coast Conference tournament starting this Saturday (Seahawks begin play in double-elimination phase on Monday).