From Brandeis University Athletics

Tournament Most Outstanding Player, senior Nikki Cote (Shelton, Conn./St. Josephs), won her third game of the weekend as Brandeis University topped Albertus Magnus College, 9-4, to claim the ECAC Division III New England Championship on Sundayafternoon at Marcus Field.

Cote (8-1) gave up three runs on six hits while striking out seven for the Judges, who scored six times in the second inning to take control of the game. For the weekend, she went 3-0 with a 1.50 earned run average and 18 strikeouts in 14 innings.

The ECAC crown was Brandeis's second in program history, to go with one in 2008. It was also the Judges' second title of 2015, to go with one from the women's basketball team.

First-year Amanda Shore (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and junior Danielle Novotny (Milford, N.J./Delaware Valley) had a pair of doubles and drove in four runs on the day for Brandeis. Senior Anya Kamber (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline) added two hits, including a triple, sophomore Leah Shapiro (Beverly Hills, Calif./Beverly Hills) went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI, and classmate Allison Hecht (Melville, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) added a pair of hits and drove in a run in the win.

Senior Carli Matrisian (Milford, Conn.) blasted a two-run home run for the Falcons, who defeated Southern Maine, 5-4, in an elimination game on Sunday morning. Sophomore Amanda Jessey (East Haven, Conn.) had two hits, including a double, and drove in a run, while first-year Gillian Fortier (Naugatuck, Conn.) went 2-for-4 with a run scored.

Brandeis (21-14) sent 12 batters to the plate in the bottom of the second, and broke the game open on a bases-clearing double by Novotny to build a 4-0 edge. Junior Madison Sullivan (Dover, N.H./Dover) and Hecht each followed with RBI singles to push the lead to 6-0. The Judges added to their lead an inning later when Kamber plated sophomore Shapiro with a triple to right to make it 7-0.

Albertus Magnus (27-14), which left the bases loaded in both the first and the fourth, cut its deficit to 7-2 in the fifth on Matrisian's homer. Jessey followed with an RBI double two batters later to make it 7-3. The Falcons threatened again in the sixth, getting within three runs on a bases-loaded single by first-year Melissa Castillo (Taftville, Conn.) before Brandeis sophomore reliever Samantha Wroblewski (Delray Beach, Fla./Spanish River) induced an inning-ending double play to escape further damage.

The Judges tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth and Wroblewski worked around a pair of two-out singles in the top of the seventh to secure the victory.