Last season, the Brandeis softball team came from behind to defeat Keene State College to win the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III New England Championships. This year, the Judges fell behind early again but could not repeat last season's theatrics.Instead, the top-seeded Judges fell 11-1 in five innings in the championship game at home May 10 after losing to the second-seeded Owls 6-3 May 9. The first loss moved the Judges to an elimination game against sixth-seeded Plymouth State University. Brandeis won that game 6-4 to advance to the championship rematch.

In the finals, Keene State gained an early lead with a solo home run in the top of the first inning by sophomore right fielder Ashley Annis, her first of the season. But the real damage came in the second inning, when the Owls scored nine runs, six of which came off of Brandeis rookie starting pitcher Caroline Miller '12. Miller started the season 11-3 but struggled with a 1-3 record in her last five starts.

Relief pitcher Allie Mussen '10 tried to limit the damage but gave up four runs, two of them earned, in one-plus innings. The Owls had batted around in the second inning before the Judges recorded an out.

"I think that [the Keene State players] are definitely stronger than they were last season, but we're also a different team than we were last season," Mussen said. "I think that their hitting definitely got stronger. . They are very consistent hitters, and they played excellent defense [Sunday]; they made every play."

Earlier in the day, the Judges advanced to the finals with an elimination-game victory over Plymouth State. The game was tied at three in the bottom of the fifth inning when rookie Brittany Grimm '12 hit a two-RBI single to give Brandeis a lead they would never relinquish.

Grimm finished the season with a .282 batting average and finished fourth on the team with 17 runs scored.

"[Grimm] is a great young player, and she's going to continue to get better," Mussen said. "I see her doing great things for us. She'll only get stronger and be more consistent. . She's been thrown around and she's adjusted to it, so maybe, hopefully, next year she'll find a more permanent spot so that she can really focus on that, but either way, I think that she's going to continue to work hard and do great things for us."

The Judges won their first game in the double-elimination round against fourth-seeded Western New England College in five innings by a score of 11-3 May 9. This time, the Judges got out to a large early lead, taking advantage of three Western New England errors in the bottom of the first inning to go up 9-1. The big blow came from a grand slam by first baseman Courtney Kelley '11, who also had a solo home run in the fourth inning. Kelley finished the season strong with a team-high six home runs and 26 RBIs despite hitting .143 in the Judges' eight early-season conference games.

"[Kelley will] have her rough patches, but she'll come back, and she wants to win more than almost anybody on the field, so she does whatever she can," Mussen.

After this game the Judges lost to Keene State for the first time in the ECAC tournament to send them to the elimination game against Plymouth State. Brandeis gave up three runs in the top of the third inning and two runs in the top of the fifth in the 6-3 loss. All three third-inning Owl runs came after a fielding error by Grimm in right field.

The Judges are graduating only two seniors this year: third baseman Samantha Worth '09 and outfielder Victoria Roomet '09. Worth hit above .300 in her last three years at Brandeis, finishing fourth on the team this year with a .311 average. She also had two hits and scored two runs in the elimination-game victory over Plymouth State.

After recording a batting average of under .200 in her first two seasons, Roomet hit .316 last year and .278 this year with 10 hits, three of which came against Plymouth State.

"[Roomet] had a great end to her season," Mussen said. "She went from really not playing very much at all the entire season to right at the end her bat was on fire. It was really good to have her on the field because it's a morale boost to all of us because she tries so hard, and so it's good to see when your hard work pays off."

The Judges finished the season with a 28-17 overall record and went 3-5 in the University Athletic Association.