On March 24, 2023, the Brandeis Judges opened up University Athletic Association conference play against Carnegie Mellon University on Marcus Field. Ragini Kannan ’26, a first-year right-handed pitcher for the Judges, gave up a home run to Koko Sagae of Carnegie Mellon in the second inning to snap her 20-inning scoreless streak. Despite this setback, Brandeis would go on to shut down Carnegie for the remainder of the game. Kannan completed the rest of the game giving up one run, giving her a dominant stat line of six innings pitched, one run given up, and seven strikeouts. Brandeis went on to sweep Carnegie in all four games that weekend.

Her stats on the season after this conference start were electric. She had only given up three runs all year, all on solo home runs, and she showcased an elite 38-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio. 

Kannan reminisced on the game against the Tartans, saying, “Going into the game, I was really nervous because that was going to be the first time I ever pitched against a UAA opponent. Coming into the game I already knew that the UAA was one of the strongest conferences in Division III, so I wanted to go out and do my job and have my teammates’ backs by starting off strong.”

In the 2023 season, Brandeis Softball relied on Kannan a lot to carry a majority of the pitching load throughout the season. Out of 58 appearances from the Judges’ pitching staff, Kannan accounted for 23 of them. Her partner in crime, Alex Cohen ’24, who was a junior pitcher and designated player during Kannan’s freshman year, made up another big bulk of appearances with 19 outings to the mound. Cohen described the experience of being a 1-2 punch with Kannan as “awesome” and added, “while it did leave a bunch of pressure on both of us to go out and perform every day, it made us that much more locked-in for every time we got in the game. I attribute a lot of my success to Ragini last year for keeping me grounded and motivated to do as well as she was doing every time I went out there.”

Kannan did not disappoint on the mound last year. She ended the year second in the UAA in wins, third in total innings pitched and fourth in Earned Runs Allowed. She also racked up an impressive 132 strikeouts — third most in Brandeis history. Kannan’s 15 wins are the eighth most in school history for a single season. Kannan’s notable achievements include third-team All-Region honors from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association earning first-team All-UAA team, and to cap it off won Female Rookie of the Year — an honor given to the top two first-year competitors at Brandeis.

As the awards began to pile up, Kannan described it as a “surreal experience” and said “it still doesn’t feel real to this day.” She showed her true character and humility by saying, “Those awards that I won aren’t ending my career and I still have a lot more things to learn, things that I can achieve and things to work on to become an even better player to help my team out even more.”

Bells Burdenski ’26, who was one of Kannan’s freshman counterparts, described her work ethic as “one of one.” Burdenski added, “Ragini is probably one of the hardest workers I know. We could have one off day during the week and she’ll still be at Gosman getting a lift in, pitching or doing some recovery and I’m inspired by her hard work and dedication to the team.”

Dani Bishop, the head coach for Brandeis Softball added, “I knew throughout the recruiting process that Rag was going to be an impact player for us. Her preparation, work ethic and results gave us confidence in her.” Kannan is also a leader on the field, even as an underclassman, and Bishop attributed that to her “consistent performances, dedication and being a great teammate, [which] led to her teammates trusting her and respecting her.”

Being a leader and a great teammate are two qualities that Kannan’s teammates truly embrace about her. Tristan Boyer ’25, who was a sophomore catcher during Kannan’s first season on the Judges said, “Working with Ragini has always been such a positive experience. She’s receptive to feedback, asking me about her spin, break and pace on her pitches. She’s always looking to get better and in return pushes me to get better also. It’s remarkable.” 

Burdenski also piled on the praise and had great things to say about the kind of teammate Kannan is by saying, “Ragini is the kind of teammate you want to have with you on and off the field. Whether it’s during a tough day at practice, on the field playing, in the locker room or on travel trips she always has the best energy and will always pick you up when you need it.”

Kannan is equally as impressive off the field. She values being well-rounded and always takes an academics-first approach to her daily life. She said, “After I won my Rookie of the Year award, I went to go see my non-athlete friends and I told them about the award and one of my friends looked me in the face and said, ‘Congratulations, but you have a final tomorrow to study for. Don’t forget, it’s always academics first.’” Having a circle of friends that keep her focused on the “end goal” is something Kannan deeply embraces about her non-athlete friends.

Other than academics, Kannan is the vice president of the Student-Athletes of Color Group and the director of management for Branda on campus. She described one of her biggest goals as being a “role model” and “someone younger girls of color can look up to in the softball setting, as softball is a predominantly white sport.” She also said that she “hopes that other brown girls from predominantly white areas know that they do have the potential to do big things, because there were a lot of things that could have stopped me, such as the way that white parents would talk down to my parents who are immigrants, or personal racism I have encountered with girls from other teams or even my own teammates. However, pushing through those things got me to where I am today.” 

Kannan embraces humility, hard work and leadership, and strives to be a role model for young girls who look like and face the same challenges as her. This passion subsequently led her to have a historic first year, and despite a rocky start for the Judges, her stat line is equally impressive.

The Judges went 2-2 with Carnegie Mellon this past weekend in Pittsburgh, and Kannan’s ERA stands at 2.93, with 1.36 Walks and Hits in Innings Pitched. Her record on the mound in 2024 is 5-4, and she continues to persevere through a strained muscle injury. 

The Brandeis softball team takes on Wellesley College at Wellesley this Wednesday, April 10. The Judges’ next home game is on Friday, April 12 against Emory University at 3:00 p.m. Go cheer on Kannan at Marcus Field and see her pitching prowess for yourself!

— Editor's Note: Sports editor Rani Balakrishna ’25 is a member of the Brandeis softball team and did not contribute to any part of this article.