The baseball team entered competition last weekend 7-15, looking to move up in the UAA conference standings. They move into the latter part of the week on a mixed note after going 2-2 in their home doubleheaders against Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and Johnson and Wales University (JWU). The Judges also fell to Roger Williams 8-1 on Thursday.
The Judges’ most recent pair of games took place on Tuesday with games against Johnson and Wales. The second game left Brandeis with a 6-3 loss. The Judges were able to get on the scoreboard early with a run in the first inning as a result of a throwing error and RBI single. The Wildcats quickly answered with a two-run home-run and maintained the lead from then on, scoring an additional four in the fifth inning.
Brandeis came close multiple times, having the bases loaded with one out in the third and fourth innings. They were stopped by the clutch pitching of JWU’s Lane Compton who was able to get out of the situations by striking out the final two batters in the third, forcing the runner at home out and striking out the final batter of the fourth inning. The Wildcats’ strong fifth inning was successful due to playing small ball, accumulating three singles, three bunts, three walks, three steals and a wild pitch in the half-inning.
The Judges’ offense was led by pinch-hitter Pat Seaward ’13 who went two for two. Starter Elio Fernandez ’15 leaves with a loss, moving to 0-2 on the season. Stefan Weiss ’13 ended the game for the Judges with 2 1/3 innings of no-hit ball while striking out two. The Wildcats’ Jake Hocking went two for four and Alex Pezzuto and Pete Rosa each drove in two runs, with Rosa’s resulting from a home run.
Compton lasted five innings on the mound, allowing seven hits on three runs, all of them unearned. Aaron Fenstermacher earned his second save of the season, closing the game with two innings without allowing a base runner.
The Judges began the day on a strong note with a 5-0 win against JWU. Brandeis began the game with a three-run first inning, putting them comfortably ahead of the Wildcats. The home team was led by Kyle Brenner ’15 who pitched his first career complete game shutout, allowing only five hits and zero walks while striking out five during the seven inning game. Brenner improves his record to 1-5 on the season. He also contributed offensively with two hits, one going for extra bases.
Nick Cortese ’13 put up an additional two hits as Tom McCarthy ’15 drove in two runners. Only three JWU players were able to reach base with Zach Boyes and Pete Rosa each going two for three. Gian Bianchi was saddled with the loss after going five innings, giving up five runs on nine hits. Remy Cohen ended the game for the Wildcats with one inning, which saw no players reach base. JWU currently stand at 23-11, 10-2 in conference and are in contention for the title of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.
Brandeis began the weekend with two precarious games against WPI on Saturday. They ended the day with a close 2-1 loss. The latter game had the Judges get off to a quick start, scoring in the first inning but the Engineers then scored runs in the second and third innings.
The game did not feature much offense but the runs were able to come home through small ball. Brandeis’ first run was propelled by Chris Ferro’s ’13 leadoff single and then advancing to second and third on a bunt and a grounder before being driven home by a Brenner single.
WPI then scored by a walk, bunt, error and infield single. The Engineers then took the lead after a single, walk and error. The game featured only nine hits, led by Kyle Brenner with two and the Engineers’ John Caliri contributing two of his own. Each pitcher performed well with Brandeis’ Mike Swerdloff ’13 pitching a complete seven innings, allowing only one earned run and striking out six. Taylor Landry got the win with a complete game allowing one run on four hits.
The day began with a 5-3 win for the Judges. The game started similarly to the following game with Brandeis coming out early with three runs in the first and WPI responding with three of their own in the second. This was all of the runs that the Engineers would score though. This game also featured some mistakes on defense with each team benefiting from the others’ errors.
The Engineers had a chance in the fourth by getting their first two batters on base but were silenced by a pickoff and double play. Chris Ferro led the Judges with a walk, run, steal, RBI and two hits, including the only extra-base hit of the game. Dylan Britton ’13 earned his team-high fourth win of the season after completing his second complete game of the season, allowing seven hits on two earned runs and striking out four. Britton ended the game by getting nine of the opponent’s final 10 batters out. WPI’s Anthony Capuano earned two hits.
The Engineers’ pitcher Mark Bentson also pitched the entire game, allowing three earned runs on six hits and striking out four. WPI is currently 12-21 overall and 4-11 in the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference.
Brandeis sits at the bottom of the conference standings at 9-18 despite playing well this past week and outscoring opponents 14-11. They get ready to enter a busy weekend with a game Thursday at Roger Williams, a doubleheader Saturday against Springfield at home and a re-scheduled doubleheader Sunday at Colby.
