WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University offense exploded for two big innings in support of sophomore pitcher Rebecca Guerci (Roslyn, N.Y. / Herricks)  in the second game of a University Athletic Association doubleheader today giving the Judges a split of the twinbill and the series with visiting Emory University. The Eagles won the opener, 9-3, before the Judges took game two, 8-4. Brandeis now sits at 12-10 on the season, 2-6 in the UAA, while the Eagles are now 15-11, 4-4 UAA.

In their game two win, Brandeis jumped on Emory starter Mattie Ryan as the first five batters reached safely. Sophomore 3B Haley Nash (Delmar, N.Y. / Bethlehem Central) cleared the bases with a double to center field, then scored on another double by grad student SS Jolie Fujita (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School) to make it 4-0. Fujita moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by rookie catcher Tristan Boyer (Chesapeake, Va./Grassfield) that gave Brandeis a 5-0 lead.

Emory relief pitchers Natalie Swift and Abby Sekoff settled down and allowed the Eagles to climb back into the game. The Eagles got on the board with a two-run home run by Megan Weisenberg in the third and added an RBI single from Ryan in the fourth, but Guerci was able to limit the damage in both frames to the one big hit.

With the Judges leading, 5-3, in the bottom of the sixth, they added three big insurance runs. Sophomore DP Alex Cohen (West Palm Beach, Fla./Benjamin School) and grad student CF Melissa Rothenberg (Lawrenceville, N.J./Lawrence) each slugged an RBI double, and Nash added an RBI single to make it 8-3. Emory got a lead-off home run in the top of the seventh from 2B Allie Moberg, but Cohen came on to shut the door.

Guerci improved to 2-2 on the season with six innings, scattering 15 Emory hits, as the Eagles stranded 10 runners. Guerci allowed four earned runs, struck out two and did not walk a batter. Ryan suffered the loss for the Eagles to drop her record to 12-3 after allowing four hits and five earned runs, walking two without a strikeout.

Offensively, the Judges had four multiple hitters, as Cohen, Rothenberg, Nash and first-year 1B Fiona Doiron (Charlton, Mass. / Marianapolis Prep.) each had two hits. Nash drove in a game-high four runs, tying her season-best. Emory combined for 15 hits, with Weisenberg going 4-for-4 with the two-run home run.

In the opener, Emory blew open a close game with a five-run fifth inning to turn a 4-3 contest into a 9-3 victory. The Eagles scored twice in the top of the first on a Brandeis error and a single by Tyler Miller. The Judges tied things up thanks to a wild pitch that scored Cohen in the first and a successful double steal by Fujita and Nash, with the latter scoring, in the third.

The game-winning hit proved to be a two-run homer by Page Nellis for Emory in the fourth inning. Brandeis answered with an RBI single from Lily Medici (New City, NY / Clarkstown North) in the bottom of the frame, but Emory blew things open with five runs on just one big hit in the fifth. The Eagles loaded the bases on two walks and a fielder's choice that saw the runner beat the throw to third. A wild pitch and a hit batter with the bases loaded scored the first two runs of the inning before Weisenberg delivered an RBI single to third base that scored an extra run on an error. A Ryan sacrifice fly rounded out the scoring.

Natalie Swift earned the win for Emory in relief of Ryan, who was knocked out of the game after getting hit with a line drive. Swift, who improved to 3-8 on the season, tossed four innings of four-hit ball, walking three and striking out one. Cohen took the loss, falling to 6-2 after giving up four runs (two earned) on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks in four innings.

Eight different Emory players collected hits, paced by Nellis's two-run homer and a double by Moberg. Nellis also scored three runs. Nash and Fujita each picked up two hit for the Judges, who totaled seven in all. Nash's double was the team's only extra-base hit.

Brandeis steps out of conference for their next action, a doubleheader at home against Framingham State that starts at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, April 5.