Hagiwara Homers, Softball’s Rally Falls Short at Holy Cross, 8-5

Wednesday, April 14

Worcester, MA

5:00 PM

Brown University

1-1

Holy Cross

6-9

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Brown University	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	5	6	0
Holy Cross	0	0	1	0	4	3	X	8	11	2

Hagiwara Homers, Softball’s Rally Falls Short at Holy Cross, 8-5

4/14/2021 7:58:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Highlights

WORCESTER, Mass. – Sophomore Jadey Hagiwara hit a two-run home run on her first career hit, but Brown University softball fell at Holy Cross, 8-5, on Wednesday evening at Freshman Field in its first away game of the season.

Playing in their second game after their season-opening 2-0 win over Johnson & Wales on Sunday, the Bears (1-1) remained within 1-0 entering the bottom of the fifth and tallied five runs over the final two frames before the host Crusaders (6-9) held on for the victory.

"Today was a great opportunity to get everyone more game experience," Brown head coach Kate Refsnyder said. "I was really proud of the way our team showed great fight over the last two innings. Our defense has been a strong point for us over these two games. We're looking forward to building off this, particularly as we resume a schedule that is closer to normal next season."

Hagiwara (Honolulu, Hawaii) sparked the Brown offense with her two-run blast in just her fourth career at bat, finishing the game with two RBIs, a run, a walk, and a hit. Fellow sophomore Julia Gubner (Calabasas, Calif.) posted a double for the Bears' other extra-base hit.

Senior Katie O'Leary (Manteca, Calif.) and junior Elayna Tsiouplis (Langhorne, Pa.) each tallied a hit and an RBI with Tsiouplis adding a run scored. Junior Kat Clum (Fort Worth, Texas) posted a hit and a run, freshman Jayme Gross (Orland Park, Ill.) added a hit, and sophomore Nicole Kim (San Diego, Calif.) tacked on a run scored.

In the circle, sophomore Erin Elgas (Belgrade, Mont.) threw 3.2 innings, allowing one run on four hits with three strikeouts. Junior Lauren Innerst (San Jose, Calif.) tossed 2.1 innings in relief with one strikeout.

The Bears threatened in the top of the first as O'Leary singled and Gubner doubled to put runners on second and third before the Crusaders escaped the jam.

Holy Cross scored the game's first run in the bottom of the third as Erin Bengston singled through the right side to bring home Bailey Bates. The Crusaders extended their lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the fifth behind a sacrifice fly from Bengston and a three-run home run from Jessica Mott.

Brown responded in the top of the sixth as Tsiouplis led off the inning with a single through the left side before Hagiwara launched a two-run homer over the wall in left field to cut the margin to 5-2.

The hosts tacked on three additional runs in the bottom of the sixth with RBI hits from Bates, Jessie Nagel, and Bengston to move ahead 8-2.

The Bears countered with three runs in the top of the seventh. After sophomore Meghan Gormley (North Kingstown, R.I.), Clum, and Elgas all reached to load the bases with no outs, Tsiouplis and O'Leary both put balls in play to score three combined runs before Holy Cross closed out the contest.

Refsnyder worked all 13 available Bears into the game as Brown played its second game in four days following a 406-day span without contests after their March 1 season finale from the 2020 campaign.

For Holy Cross, Peyton Morehouse and Megan Yurchick combined to pitch 5.0 innings without allowing a run. Mott and Bengston each tallied three RBIs.