Softball Takes Two from Brandeis
April 1, 2005

WALTHAM, Mass. –  The Bates College softball team took advantage of late-inning errors to win both games of a doubleheader against Brandeis on Friday. The Bobcats took the opener 4-3 and captured the nightcap, 5-4.   

In game one, Brandeis (2-10) gave up a run without a hit in the top of the third inning, but the Judges bounced back with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame. Three straight hits opened the inning, with junior SS Mari Levine (Hopkinton, Mass.) plating classmate and starting pitcher Brianne Smith (Tewksbury, Mass.) to tie the score. After Bates hurler Sarah Klenakis (Springfield, Mass.) got the next two out, rookie LF Jess Gershen (Miami, Fla.) reached on an error that brought home rookie 1B Kaitlin Streilein (Point Pleasant, N.J.). First-year CF Jenna Olem (Stoughton, Mass.) singled to bring home Levine and give the Judges a 3-1 lead. 

Bates (3-1) got one run back in the fourth inning as sophomore LF Kate Franklin (New Preston, Conn.) scored on an error. The Bobcats scored the decisive runs in the sixth inning. With one away, junior 2B Lissa Moses (Hamden, Conn.) singled, bringing up junior 1B Kyla DeCato (Paris, Maine). DeCato grounded sharply to third base, but the ball was thrown away on the double play attempt at second, allowing Moses to score and DeCato to move to third. DeCato scored two pitches later on a passed ball. Klenakis picked up the win by allowing just five hits and retiring 15 of the last 16 hitters she faced. She improves to 1-1 on the season. Smith was the loser despite allowing just three hits, as three of the four runs allowed were unearned.

Bates got off to a quick lead in the second game as well, as senior SS Erin Foye (New London, Conn.) doubled to lead off the game and scored two batters later on a DeCato ground up. Once again, the Judges reclaimed the lead, this time in the bottom of the second, thanks to an RBI single by sophomore RF Christina McWilliams (Billerica, Mass.) and sophomore 2B Rebecca Pelfrey’s (Westchester, N.Y.) run-producing groundout. The Bobcats evened the score in the third on Franklin’s two-out single, but the Judges went back on top on McWilliams’ two-out double that brought home rookie DP/pitcher Danielle Mayer (Larkspur, Calif.). Doubles by Foye and DeCato in the fifth knotted the game at 3-3 headed into the sixth inning.

With Mayer brought in to pitch in relief of Streilein, sophomore 3B Caitlin Murphy (Westwood, Mass.) doubled to lead off the inning. A bobbled ball allowed rookie DP Beth Lakin (Tacoma, Wash.) to reach, while a ground out moved runners to second and third. After Mayer struck out the next hitter, sophomore catcher Carolyn King (Hanover, Mass.) grounded to third base, but the ball was overthrown to first, giving the Bobcats a 5-3 lead.

Brandeis got one run back in the bottom of the seventh as Pelfrey singled with one down and scored three batters later on a hit by rookie Natalie Volpe (Southington, Conn.), but the Judges stranded the winning runs in scoring position.