On April 11, the Brandeis baseball team defeated Becker College, 17-13. It took awhile to get there as the contest lasted three hours and 35 minutes, with the Judges scoring runs in seven of their eight innings and Becker scoring six of nine. This win was his 300-career win for Head Coach Derek Carlson.
Marc Maestri ’22 came in with no outs and made a big play as he induced a grounder to third that cut down the tying run at the plate, then went on to strike out the next two batters.
Also getting involved in the action was left fielder Tommy Sand ’21, who went 2-5 with three RBI, including a key two run single in the eighth. Second baseman Victor Oppenheimer ’20 and catcher Luke Hall ’21 each scored three runs, while Alex Parrot ’21 delivered a two-run triple in the fifth. In his first collegiate start, Aneesh Avancha ’22 went 2-4 with two runs scored and an RBI sac fly. Also on the hill was Rik Jhamb ’21, who earned his first collegiate win by pitching the fifth inning and only allowing two unearned runs along with two strikeouts to seal the victory.
In their next contest, the team kept things rolling, earning a non-conference win over the visiting Curry College Colonels, 4-3. In their next contest, the Judges kept things rolling, earning a non-conference win over the visiting Colonels, 4-3. It is the Judges’ third consecutive win, giving them a 12-13 record on the year. It was the Brandeis offense that got them going early, scoring runs in each of the first three innings. The Judges were very disciplined at the plate throughout the game, recording four walks in the first inning. They would take advantage of the walks, along with a couple wild pitches and a hit batter to score two runs in the first without recording a hit. Oppenheimer led things off, scoring two of the Judges four runs as he went 1-4 with a walk. The eventual winning run would come in the third inning from left fielder Sand as outfielder Alex Parrot ’21 drove him home with a sacrifice grounder.
Starter Mason Newman ’21 pitched 5.1 innings, only surrendering six hits and one earned run with four strikeouts to earn the win and move to 2-3 on the year. Coming in for relief was lefty Kyle Shedden ’20, who silenced the Curry lineup, scattering only one hit over 2.2 innings of scoreless work. Greg Tobin ’20 came in for the ninth inning and stroke out two batters en route to his first save of the season.
In their following contest against Trinity College, the team could not keep pace as Trinity scored eight runs on seven hits and committed no errors in an 8-4 victory over the Judges.
Three days later, the Judges suffered a pair of losses to the conference opponent NYU dropping a 6-5 decision in the opener and 15-10 in the second game. Game one was a back and forth affair with the Judges in the bottom of the third, scoring four times. Right fielder Scott Ziegler ’21 drew a one-out walk, while baseman Oppenheimer’s swinging bunt was thrown away, putting both runners in scoring position. Ziegler would score on a wild pitch, and Oppenheimer came home on shortstop Mike Khoury’s double to right center. After a walk and a hit batter loaded bases, Khoury scored on a passed ball and Hall delivered a sacrifice fly to put Brandeis ahead 4-1.
The second game was an offensive outpour, as NYU had eight runs in the sixth inning, proving to be the difference in a 15-10 loss for the Judges. Brandeis would battle back with a five run of their own in the bottom of the sixth to cut it to 14-10. Offensively, Brandeis was paced by Dan Frey ’21 and Khoury, who each drove in three runs. Khoury had a key two-run triple in the team’s three-run second inning, while Frey had three doubles in the contest. Pitcher Kyle Shedden ’21 suffered the loss, pitching four innings, with seven hits and allowing six runs, with a walk and a strikeout.
On April 21, the Judges got a terrific start from lefty Cam Roberts ’22 en route to their
first University Athletic Association win of the season against NYU. Roberts threw 6.2 scoreless innings as the Judges won the second game of the doubleheader, 8-3. Frey delivered a two run single to get things going for the Judges. Frey was then able to steal second and scored on a hit up the middle by Hall.
Brandeis was able to double its lead in the fourth inning with two out, as second baseman Victor Oppenheimer ’20 hit a double. The Violets elected to walk Khoury intentionally, and Isaac Fossas ’21 made them pay with a long home run to left field on the second pitch. It was Fossas’ fourth of the season and, fifth of his career.
The Judges tacked on two more runs in the eighth, on a ground-rule double by Oppenheimer and a sacrifice fly by Khoury. The RBI for Khoury was his UAA leading 37th of the season. The Judges were not able to sweep NYU for the day, as the Violets won the opener, 12-2. Right fielder Dan O’Leary ’20 singled home a run in the fifth, while Khoury blasted a solo homer in the sixth. It was his seventh round tripper of the season, second-most in the UAA, and the 11th of his career. From the mound, Newman took the loss, falling to 2-4.
