Babson Six-Run Third Helps Softball Top Brandeis, 9-1

Photo is courtesy of Babson College

WALTHAM, Mass.—Visiting Babson College scored six runs in the third inning and finished with a season-high 16 hits on its way to defeating Brandeis University, 9-1, in non-conference softball action on Wednesday afternoon at Marcus Field.

With its third straight win, Babson is now 16-10 overall, while Brandeis slips to 11-12 on the year.
Junior Leslie Moore (Atkinson, N.H.) went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI, while first-year Annie Quine (Santa Monica, Calif.) finished 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI for the Beavers.

Sophomore Samantha Smith (Hillsborough, N.J.) had two hits and scored twice, and senior Rachel
Bullard (Worcester, Mass.) and first-year Josephine Mares (Houston, Texas) both were 2-for-4 with an RBI in the win.

Senior Madison Sullivan (Dover, N.H.) homered in the fourth inning to account for the lone Judges run.

The Green and White loaded the bases in the top of the first and took a 1-0 lead when Smith scored on a wild pitch. The Beavers went down in order in the second before sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring six times in the third to break the game open.

Smith and Bullard recorded back-to-back base hits and came around to score on Quine's double to right. Moore followed with an RBI double to right and then scored one batter later when first-year Ashley Tango (Reading, Mass.) reached on an error to make it 5-0. Tango scored on an error following senior Caitie Benoit's (Williamstown, Mass.) single, and Mares extended the lead to 7-0 with a two-out RBI single to left.

Babson sophomore Ali Reilly (New Canaan, Conn.) lost her no-hit bid on Sullivan's homer with two outs in the fourth, and then worked out of a bases loaded jam in the fifth with consecutive ground outs to end the frame. The Beavers tacked on two more runs in the seventh as junior Catherine Pitts (Winchester, Mass.) plated classmate Shannon Kortmann (Manalapan, N.J.) and Bullard followed with an RBI single for the final margin.

Reilly (9-7) went the distance for the Green and White giving up six hits while striking out three. Melissa Soleimani (Somerset, Mass.) lasted just two innings after allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits to fall to 6-8 on the year.

Babson returns to action on Friday when it hosts Emerson in a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m., while Brandeis takes on Colby in a twin bill on Sunday at 1 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is now 27-15 all-time against Brandeis and has won 20 of the last 23 games between the teams after sweeping the regular-season series.

• Smith has now hit safely in seven consecutive games, while Bullard extended her hitting streak to four with her third-inning bunt single.
• Over her last eight starts, Reilly is 5-3 with a 1.72 ERA and 30 strikeouts against just nine walks over 57.0 innings.

• The Beavers are now 11-5 with seven consecutive wins against non-conference opponents.