The 17th-ranked Case Western Reserve University softball team completed a three-game sweep of Brandeis University with an 8-3 eight-inning win on Sunday afternoon at Marcus Field in Waltham, Massachusetts.

The Spartans improved to 24-9 overall and 11-4 in conference games. CWRU is tied for second in the University Athletic Association standings with Emory (11-4) and trails WashU (14-1) by three games with three contests remaining. A three-game sweep of the Bears by the Eagles coupled with a CWRU sweep of Carnegie Mellon during the second weekend of May would result in a three-way tie for the UAA championship. The Judges fell to 8-25-1 overall and 3-12 in UAA games

With the score tied at two in the top of the eighth inning and two runners in scoring position, first-year catcher Lacey Lara sent a single through the left side to give CWRU a 4-2 lead. The advantage remained two when graduate student infielder KaiLi Gross stepped up to the plate with two outs in the frame. She blasted a grand slam to give the Spartans a six-run lead heading into the bottom half of the inning. The home run was the ninth of the season for Gross and the 32nd of her career, one shy of the program record of 33 set by Annie Wennerberg.

The Judges scored once on a solo home run in the last inning, but junior pitcher Devanghi Misra struck out the last two batters of the contest to secure the win.

CWRU starting pitcher Lexi Miskey did not allow a baserunner until the third inning on a hit batter and did not concede a hit until the fourth stanza. She improved to 15-3 with the win, allowing just two runs on two hits in seven innings while striking out eight.

The Spartans scored the first run of the contest in the third inning on a groundout by Gross. Sophomore outfielder Nylah Durham led off the frame with a bunt single, stole second base, and advanced to third on a groundout before crossing the plate on the out by Gross.

Senior catcher Katelyn Lamm led off the next inning with a home run, her fifth of the season, to double the team's advantage. However, Brandeis tied the score in the bottom of the stanza on a two-run homer by Haley Nash, the first hit allowed by Miskey in the game.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Judges loaded the bases with no outs on a single, a hit batter, and a walk. Miskey struck out the next three batters, all swinging, to keep the game tied heading into the final inning of regulation.

Neither team scored in the seventh inning, setting up the heroics by Lara and Gross in the final frame.

Ragini Kannan (4-7) suffered the loss for Brandeis, allowing eight runs on 10 hits in a complete game effort. Gross matched a season high with five runs batted in and collected a pair of hits. Lara had the first multi-hit game of her career and drove in a pair of runs for the second time in 2025. Eight Spartans recorded hits in the game, including a double by senior infielder Isabella Russo, and the team stole six bases in the contest, including two by Gross.

The Spartans will play four consecutive non-conference games before the regular season-ending series with the Tartans. CWRU hosts Hiram College on Tuesday, April 29 for a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. before traveling to Alliance, Ohio, for a doubleheader against the University of Mount Union on Sunday, May 4 beginning at 1 p.m.

Spartan Notes

• CWRU improved to 35-30 in the all-time series against Brandeis, including wins in the last 12 games and a 19-5 record since the beginning of UAA site play in 2017
• The grand slam was the third of Gross's career with the previous coming on April 27, 2024, against Carnegie Mellon. That was the last grand slam hit by a Spartan
• Gross also reached the 100 stolen base milestone for her career with her first successful attempt in the game. She holds the program record with 101 steals across her four seasons
• Lamm extended her hitting streak to 10 games with the home run, tied for the longest by a Spartan this season. The senior catcher has driven in runs in nine of those 10 contests, with all five of her homers this season occurring in the last nine games. She raised her batting average from .270 to .359 during the 10-game stretch
• Lara became the 11th different Spartan with at least two hits in a game. Gross, who leads the team with 52 hits, had her team-high 18th multi-hit game during the 2025 campaign.