Over a three-day span, the baseball team won a total of three games after having played four. They had their home opener on Sunday with a doubleheader against Framingham State University.
The first run of the afternoon came in the top of the third inning. Framingham’s Mark Mainini was able to bring home William Derosier after the latter stole second base. Brandeis would not be down for long though, scoring in the next half inning. A throwing error by the shortstop allowed Ryan Tettemer ’17 to reach base. Liam O’Connor ’16 placed a sacrifice bunt to advance Tettemer. A fly out by Brian Ing ’14 pushed the runner over to third with two outs. No more hits would be necessary as a wild pitch with two strikes brought Tettemer home. There were no hits over the next two and a half innings before the Judges came up with all the runs needed to win. Ing reached on a walk, subsequently stealing second. Connor Doyle ’16 sacrificed Ing to third allowing a single to centerfield by Tom McCarthy ’15 to score Ing. Greg Heineman ’16 reached first base as a fielder’s choice ejected McCarthy from the base paths. Heineman advanced to third, and an error put Max Hart ’16 at first base. Heineman reached home while Hart was in a pickle to score the team’s final run. Two runners reached base in the top of the seventh, but pitcher Kyle Brenner ’15 was able to end the game on a pickoff, winning 3-1.
Brandeis was able to win the game by sacrifices, steals and taking advantage of miscues by the defense. McCarthy obtained the victors’ sole hit. Brenner pitched a seven-inning complete game, allowing one run on five hits and striking out seven to earn his third win of the season.
The Rams scored the first runs of the next game as well, putting up two in the second inning as a result of two errors by the Judges. They added another run in the following inning after a hit batter and two steals. Framingham almost extended their lead in the fourth, but Jake Wardwell was called out at home on a fielder’s choice.
The Judges began to claw back in the fifth inning; Doyle walked with two outs and was hit home by a big double to right field by McCarthy. Brandeis tied the game in the next inning. Brenner singled to center field and advanced to third on a double by Dominic Schwartz ’14. Tettemer allowed Brenner to score, and Cameron Shaw ’15 hit a pinch hit sacrifice fly to center field to bring home Schwartz. Two hit batters and three steals in the seventh brought home a Rams run that would force Brandeis to score in the next half-inning or lose the seven inning game. O’Connor began the inning with a single, advancing to third on the next at bat. McCarthy singled to score O’Connor and send the game into extra innings. Sloppy play by the Judges allowed Framingham to score in the eighth after a hit batter and two errors. Again facing a do-or-die situation, Brandeis responded, loading the bases with no outs. Pinch hitter Dan Gad ’14 grounded into a double play but pushed forward Schwartz for the run. The Rams were close to scoring yet again in the ninth, placing runners on second and third but pitcher Liam Coughlin ’17 handled the situation by forcing a groundout to halt the momentum. Schwartz reached the bases again in the 10th on a walk. Tettemer placed a sacrifice bunt that permitted Schwartz to take advantage of a throwing error to reach home and win the game 6-5.
Doyle, McCarthy and Tettemer each had multiple hits with McCarthy adding two RBI’s. Schwartz had three runs, reaching base on a double and two walks. Framingham had plenty of opportunities to advance on the bases, having eight steals plus Brandeis hitting four batters and making six errors. Six pitchers took the mound for the home team; James Machado ’16 earned the win, pitching a perfect final inning.
Brandeis defeated UMass Dartmouth 4-3 on Monday and lost to Worcester State University 9-4 on Tuesday. They have another home game on Friday and head to Springfield College and Johnson and Wales University on Monday and Tuesday. The Judges are 10-13.
