Waltham, MA --- Juliana Fekete (Belgrade, ME) belted two of WPI's five home runs as the Engineers' rapped out 28 hits en route to registering 28 runs in a sweep of host Brandeis in a non-conference softball doubleheader on a cold and windy Wednesday afternoon. The Crimson and Gray took the opener 8-4 before posting a 20-0 shutout in game two.
WPI, winners of three straight and eight of its last nine contests, improves to 21-8 while Brandeis slips to 14-12.
The opening game saw both teams score on sacrifice flies in the first inning. Fekete opened the scoring for WPI, while her opposite number behind the plate Cori Coleman (Burr Ridge, IL answered for Brandeis. Hunter then gave the Judges a 2-1 lead with a single to right field.
WPI answered with the game's third sacrifice fly, coming in the third inning off the bat of 1B Katie Bumila (Raynham, MA). Shortstop Kristin Gallagher (Coventry, RI) followed with a single to right that gave the Engineers the lead for good.
The visitors added five insurance runs in the top of the sixth inning, when Fekete homered to right-center field to lead off the frame, her third of the season. Five batters later, with the bases loaded, rookie Hope Shevchuk (Burlington, CT) made her first collegiate homer a pinch hit grand slam, pushing the Engineers lead to 8-2.
The insurance runs proved key, as Brandeis scored twice in the bottom of the sixth. Coleman led off with a single, and scored on Hunter's first career blast, cutting the lead to 8-4. WPI rookie Caroline Medino (Pompton Lakes, NJ) came on in relief after the home run, and retired six of the seven batters she faced to close out the game, including four by strikeout.
WPI sophomore Clare Doolin (Newton, MA) earned the win after allowing four runs (two earned) in five innings of work. She gave up six hits, struck out three and walked one to improve to 12-4 on the season. Brandeis junior Nikki Cote (Shelton, CT) suffered the loss, falling to 3-7, after giving up six runs on five hits and three walks in five innings, Cote struck out three.
After closing out the first game, WPI's Medino was equally in control in the second game. She allowed just one hit in five more innings of work, a single to right by Coleman after a foul ball of hers was nearly caught. Medino struck out four, walked one and hit a batter as she improved to 8-4 on the campaign.
Meanwhile, the Engineer offense produced a season-high 20 runs on 20 hits. They also took advantage of three Brandeis errors and two walks. The visitors hit three home runs in the game: A three-run shot by Bumila in the third inning, her first of the year; a two-run bomb from catcher Lindsay Gurksa (Revere, MA) in the fourth; and Fekete's second of the day, a three-run job in the fifth to give her the team lead with four circuit clouts on the season. Senior CF Nicole McDonough (Abington, MA) added a three-run triple in the fifth as the Engineers sent 13 hitters to the plate and scored nine times.
Brandeis returns to action Friday at UMass Boston for a 3:30pm start. WPI is at MIT for a NEWMAC twinbill the same day at 3pm.
Release Courtesy Brandeis Sports Information
