The Brandeis baseball team has been active in Florida facing several different teams for the past two weeks. Most recently, the Judges participated in the University Athletic Association (UAA) baseball tournament. Before the tournament, left-handed pitcher, Jesse Link ’13 said, “We are all getting excited for the UAAs tomorrow [March 10] and I think that we have a great mentality as a team going forward. We trained very hard in the off-season. We need to come out of the gates with tons of enthusiasm and play with a lot of pride and, if we do that, which we are completely capable of, we can beat anyone we play on any given day. We have a lot of talent on this team and can be very very successful this year.”

March 10 marked the start of UAA action with the UAA opener. The Brandeis Judges faced Emory University at Historic Sanford Stadium. Going into Thursday’s game, the Judges were on a five-game winning streak, beating every team they faced in Florida. Emory University’s Eagles proved to be more difficult. The Judges made four errors and walked four batters, giving the Eagles a chance to capitalize on mistakes, and eventually win the game 11-3. Thursday’s loss broke the Judges’ five-game winning streak and lowered their season record to 5-4, and 0-1 in the UAA tournament.

The Judges also faced Rochester (NY) in a double-header the same day as Emory. This game lasted 12 innings and saw the Judges soar to a 7-6 nail-biter victory. Judges’ first baseman Eric Rosenburg ’11 scored the game-winning run in the top of the 12th inning. This extended his hitting streak to seven games and won the game for the Judges. The game against the Rochester Yellowjackets improved the Judges record to 1-1 in UAA tournament. The win against Rochester boosted the Judges to a 6-4 record, while Rochester fell to 4-2, and 1-1 in UAA contests.

Last Friday, the Judges faced Washington University in their next UAA tournament game. For the first six innings, the game was tied until the Judges opened the game up with four runs in the top of the seventh. Right-handed pitcher for the Judges, John McGrath ’11, was on the mound and, with the support of the Judges offense, won 5-2 at Sanford Memorial Stadium.

On March 12 the Judges faced Emory University in a rematch game from last Thursday. While the Judges hoped for revenge in the rematch game, the end result was the same. Emory University won the second duel 12-5. The Judges jumped to an early 5-1 lead but were unable to hold that lead against Emory. The Eagles’ pitching managed to earn 10 strikeouts during this game, which came back to bite the Judges. This loss put the Judges at 7-5 overall and 2-2 in the UAA tournament, while pushing the Eagles to 11-7, and 3-1 in the UAA tournament.

March 13 saw the Judges face Case Western Reserve University in Sanford, Fla. The Judges could not manage a win, instead creating a two-game losing streak. The Judges lost to Case Western 8-4. By the first two innings, the Judges were already behind by four runs. The Judges could not manage to come back in the only game against Case Western Reserve University in the UAA tournament. The fact that there were no extra base hits by the Judges is just one example of how potent the Case Western pitching was on Sunday. After Sunday’s game, the Judges fell to a 7-6 record, and 2-3 in the UAA tournament.

Monday was a big day for the Brandeis Judges. Monday was the last chance for the Judges to break a two-game losing streak and the last game of the UAA tournament. Sadly though, the Judges were unable to break their losing streak with a loss to Washington University. In the ninth inning the Judges scored three runs but it was not enough to win the game, which ended 8-6. With the loss, the Judges wrapped up their time in Florida with a 7-7 record overall and a 2-4 in the UAA tournament, which places the Judges fourth in the UAA. The Judges have since returned to Brandeis. The first home game for the Judges is March 21 hosting Salem State.