Tim Dunphy '06 continues his mastery from the mound, throwing a complete game as Brandeis shut down Salve-Regina 6-3. Brandeis was aided by a four-run second inning with the first run coming from a Seahawk error and the last run of the inning on a sacrifice fly from Chuck Sheehan 08. Brandeis added two more runs in the third thanks to an error by the Salve-Regina pitcher Justin Collett. That would be all the Judges would need as Dunphy scattered 14 hits and 3 earned runs over nine innings pitched. This victory on the road was critical, especially after their performance against Wheaton.
No one from the Brandeis bullpen was able to shut the door in the top of the ninth in Tuesdays game, as Brandeis lost a heartbreaker to Wheaton College, 5-4. Clearly, the Judges missed the hard-throwing Bryan Lambert 05. After Wheaton took the lead in the top of the second, Brandeis scored in the bottom of the inning to take the lead and didnt relinquish it until the top of the ninth. The game started off sloppily with both teams making early errors. The players finally settled down and the pitchers took control in the middle of the game. Two Brandeis hitters who had success were Chris Navis 06, who was 2-4 with an RBI and a stolen base, and Phil Aurigemma 08, who was 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Brandeis starter Craig Letendre 08 went 5.2 innings, giving up two earned runs. Chris Martin of Wheaton College held his own by pitching 7 innings and only allowing one earned run.
The turning point of the contest came in the top of the ninth, when Coach Pete Varney elected to leave rookie relief pitcher James Collins 09 in the game. This was his third inning of work. Wheaton opened with back-to-back singles after Collins had retired seven of the previous nine hitters he had faced. After allowing two earned runs, Collins was pulled in favor of Aaron Landes 06, who didnt fair much better. Scott Guillerault doubled to cut the lead to 4-3 and Pat OConnor grounded out to the right side to tie the game at 4-4 and put a runner on third, setting up Mark Browns game winning single. Landes allowed one earned run in the inning and got the loss. Winning pitcher Jaime Baker earned the win with two innings of hitless ball, walking one and striking out two. Brandeis has not been able to record a save this year.
Brandeis had an opportunity to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth when Dave Almeida 09 led off the inning with a walk. He was then sacrificed over to second with only one out. However, senior Jamie Baker was able to strike out both Aurigemma and Mike Alfego 09 to end the game. With the win, Wheaton improves to 8-6, while the Brandeis record drops to 6-5.
Earlier in the week, the Judges lost 5-1 to Suffolk University. Prior to that, Brandeis shut out Roger Williams University 7-0. Star pitcher Dunphy got the win against Roger Williams. He pitched eight strong innings, allowing eight hits and two walks while striking out two. He talked about his pitching strategy against the batters. Just work the strike zone, try to throw as many strikes as possible. I tried to get them to put the ball in play, he said. I was just trying to stay calm on the mound and just try and throw as many strikes as possible.
The Judges' next game is on Sunday at UMass-Dartmouth.
