The baseball team went into the week 9-17 and left at 10-20; they currently stand in last place in the UAA.
The Judges lost a close matchup on Wednesday to Bowdoin College. Brandeis gained an early lead in the first with a double by Chris Ferro ’13, but the Polar Bears responded with one run of their own in the first, and an additional three in the second inning. Brandeis tied it up again in the fifth but could not overcome the three runs that Bowdoin added in the sixth. The Polar Bears made three errors in the top of the eighth to allow the Judges to score two runs, but the scoring ended there at 8-7 in favor of the home Bowdoin team.
Ferro and Nick Cortese ’13 each had two hits, and Brian Allen ’15 had two RBIs. Starter Dylan Britton ’13 had a tough outing allowing eight runs, including six earned, on eleven hits over 5 and 1/3 innings. The final two and two thirds innings were led by relievers Elio Fernandez ’15, Jesse Link ’13 and Stefan Weiss ’13, who cumulatively gave up only one hit.
The Polar Bears offense was led by the trio of John Lefeber, Aaron Rosen and Dan Findley. Lefeber led the game with three RBIs and three hits. Rosen had two hits and two RBIs and Findley had two hits and scored three times. The Bowdoin pitching staff had eight players take the mound. The Polar Bears left the game at 21-9 and sit atop the East Division of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) with a 7-2 in-conference record.
The Judges had two games on Saturday against Springfield College. They split the doubleheader. This marks the third consecutive doubleheader in which Brandeis has won the first game and lost the second.
All three doubleheaders took place at home. The second game of the day featured strong pitching performances from both sides. Each pitcher lasted the entire seven-inning game. Judges’ pitcher Mike Swerdloff ’13 allowed two earned runs and nine hits, while striking out six. This solid outing was not enough to make up for the Pride’s two-hitter by Greg Marakovits who earned his first win of the season. Marakovits kept Brandeis to their least amount of hits this season. Swerdloff left the game at with a 2-5 record on the season.
The Pride got off to a quick lead scoring a run in the first and following this up with additional runs in the third and fifth. Brandeis’ lone hits came from Ferro and Tom McCarthy ’15. Springfield was led by Shane O’Leary, Brent Poulin and Matt Artigliere who each contributed two hits. Poulin also drove in two runners on his two doubles. This marks the fifth time that Brandeis has been shut out this season.
The weekend began on a positive note after a 4-3 win over Springfield. The Pride led the game until the bottom of the fifth which featured the Judges coming alive and scoring three runs, getting hits on three consecutive at-bats. Springfield scored two in the first with Brandeis responding with a run of their own in the inning. The visitors then scored an additional run in the fifth which led to the Judges’ strong half-inning.
Each team was able to get runners on base, Springfield out-hitting Brandeis 11 to 10. Judges Ferro, Dan Gad ’14 and Dominic Schwartz ’14 each had multiple hits. Gad led the game with three runs batted in. Pitcher Kyle Brenner ’15 pitched a complete game, allowing 11 hits and striking out five batters. Despite allowing double digit hits, Brenner and the defense salvaged the game by forcing Springfield to leave ten runners on base during the game. Brenner moves to a 2-5 record on the season. The Pride were led by O’Leary, Frank Calabrese, Mike McGowan and Poulin who each had two hits.
Oliver Collette received his first loss of the season, pitching all but one-third of an inning of the game. Springfield College left Waltham with a 12-17 record and stand at 12-18 after a loss to Amherst.
The Judges left last week with an 8-1 loss at Roger Williams University. Brandeis led 1-0 until the bottom of the seventh when the Hawks pulled ahead with three runs following up with an additional five in the eighth. Judges’ starter Britton took a no-hitter into the fifth before allowing a single to third baseman Mike Thomas, who also contributed with and walk and a run.
Each team allowed seven hits but Brandeis also had five errors, three of them coming in the final two innings, allowing the Hawks to score eight runs. The big loss will not hurt the Brandeis pitching staff’s earned run average though, with all eight runs being unearned as a result of two fielding errors, a wild pitch, two walks, fielder’s choice and a double steal on a throwing error. Britton allowed three hits over seven innings letting by three unearned runs, while striking out five. James Machado ’16 pitched one inning permitting four hits and five runs, all unearned. Britton sits at a 4-5 record. Pat Seaward ’13 and Schwartz each had two hits. The Hawks used three pitchers during the game, with starter Dan Julian letting by one run on four hits in four and two-thirds innings.
Josh Orosz then earned the win with three and one-third innings allowing three hits and no runs. Mike Pascarella was the Hawks sole batter to get multiple hits, also driving in two runners. Trevor Larson scored twice and Jaime Timothy scored twice and drove in three base runners. Roger Williams left the game against Brandeis at 20-13 but now stand at 20-15 after a doubleheader loss to Western New England University who leads the Commonwealth Coast Conference at 24-8.
Brandeis stands at 2-6 in the competitive UAA conference. The team has six games remaining in the season beginning with home games on Thursday and Friday against Gordon College and Salve Regina University. Sunday also features a doubleheader at home against Trinity College.
