ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The No. 12 Washington University in St. Louis softball team opened up the series against Brandeis with a pair of wins on Friday afternoon. The Bears are 25-5 on the year with a 10-1 mark in UAA play.

Game 1: WashU 7, Brandeis 1
The Bears put a run on the board in their first outing at the plate. Senior Erin Reardon drew a lead-off walk and stole second. She advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly from senior Natalia Pilpil for the 1-0 edge.

In the bottom of the third with two outs, sophomore Julia Nicholus drilled a double to left field and went on to score as junior Alexa Hanish doubled to left-center, giving WashU a 4-0 lead over the Judges.

In the top of the fifth, Brandeis got on the board with a lead-off homerun from Anna Kolb over the left-center field fence.

With one out in the bottom of the fifth, sophomore Kennedy Grippo singled up the middle and stole second. Hanish singled to right-center, scoring Grippo for a 5-1 edge.

WashU scored its final two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Reardon led off with a bunt single, and first-year Harper Nix drew a walk. Pilpil drilled a two-run homer in the next at-bat, scoring senior Brooke Capparelli, who came on to run for Nix.

Reardon finished 2-for-3 with one run scored, and Pilpil was 1-for-1 with three RBIs and one run scored, as well as two walks. Nicholus finished 2-for-3 with two runs, and Hanish was 2-for-2 with two RBIs.

Senior Jamie Burgasser earned the win in the circle to improve to 11-1 on the year, pitching a complete game with six hits, one run, and eight strikeouts.

Game 2: WashU 5, Brandeis 4
Brandeis took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. With one out, Maddie Manes singled to left field and Brooke Boehmer followed with a single up the middle. Haley Nash also singled up the middle to load the bases. Both Manes and Boehmer scored on a double from Kolb to center.

The Bears pulled even in the bottom of the second. Reardon laid down a bunt single and then stole second. With one out, Pilpil hit her second two-run homer of the day, making it a 2-2 ball game.

In the top of the fourth inning, Bells Burdenski led off with a double to center for the Judges and advanced to third on a grounder from Jordan Wallace. Dylan Yamamura singled up the middle, scoring Burdenski for a 3-2 Brandeis lead.

The Bears posted X runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out, Nix doubled to center and was pinch-run for by first-year Christina Smith. Senior Maggie Baumstark singled through the left side, scoring Smith to tie the game 3-3. Baumstark stole second and went on to score as Capparelli singled up the middle.
In the top of the seventh, Manes led off with a single to second for the Judges and was pinch-run for by Mary Doud. With two outs, Kolb singled up the middle and Burdenski reached base on a fielder's choice, giving Doud time to score the tying run.

The Bears walked it off in the bottom of the seventh. Pilpil and Geluck drew back-to-back walks to lead things off, and Schneider laid down what was meant to be a sacrifice bunt but beat out the throw to load the bases. Grippo ended things with a sacrifice fly out to center field, scoring sophomore Kristina Donaldson who came on to run for Pilpil.

Schneider went 3-for-4 and Nix finished 3-for-3. Baumstark was 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI.

Sophomore Maria Brooks earned the win in the circle, pitching 3.2 innings of relief with four hits, one earned run, and two strikeouts.

The Bears conclude the series against Brandeis tomorrow at a time to be determined. Check washubears.com for the most up-to-date information.