WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University baseball team
tallied a season-high 20 runs on 22 hits as the Judges defeated
visiting UMass-Boston, 20-6, on Stein Diamond.
The Judges (15-14) batted around twice in the contest, sending 14
men to the plate in the fourth inning, when they scored 10 runs off
four different pitchers. Brandeis added six more in the eighth,
when 10 men batted.
The fourth inning was highlighted by back-to-back home runs from
rookie LF Tony Deshler (Pepperell, Mass.) and sophomore 2B John
O'Brion (Portland, Maine). Deshler's blast gave the Judges a 5-4
lead they would not relinquish, while O'Brion added a bases-loaded
double later in the inning that put Brandeis ahead, 12-4.
Deshler also went deep to lead off the sixth inning, finishing the
day 3-6 with four RBI, two home runs and a double. O'Brion was 2-6
with a homer, double, four RBI and a team-high four runs scored.
Sophomore 1B Drake Livada (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) had a career-high
five hits in six at-bats, with one RBI and one run scored. Livada
now has a 17-game hitting streak to raise his batting average to
.457 on the season.
Also producing three-hit games for the Judges were junior DH Dave
Almeida (Bridgeport, Conn.) and senior Malcolm Cone-Coleman
(Portland, Maine). Senior CF Chuck Sheehan (Lexington, Mass.) was
2-4 with three RBI, including a successful suicide squeeze bunt
that helped the Judges build an early 3-0 lead. Sophomore 3B/RF
James Likis (Cambridge, Mass.) reached base four times, rapping a
double and getting hit by a pitch on three different plate
appearances. Likis, Cone-Coleman and Sheehan all scored three
runs.
Sophomore pitcher Drew Brzozowski (Concord, Mass.) was the
beneficiary of the outburst. He went seven innings, allowing six
runs (five earned) on 11 hits. He struck out two and walked none to
improve to 3-1 on the season.
UMass-Boston (12-19) held a brief lead in the fourth inning, when
the Beacons sent eight men to the plate and scored four runs. After
junior RF Tom Michael (Manchester, N.H.) was hit by a pitch to lead
off the inning, five straight UMB batters hit singles to tie the
game at 3-3. Brzozowski induced a 6-3 double play with the bases
loaded as the go-ahead run scored, but he got the next out to keep
the damage to a minimum.
The Beacons were paced by rookie catcher Timothy Fontaine
(Worcester, Mass.), who went 3-5 with a run and an RBI, while
junior catcher Eric Salvador (Middleboro, Mass.) was 2-5 with two
RBI and a run. Senior Mike Dorval (Belchertown, Mass.) surrendered
Deshler's first home run and suffered the loss, falling to 1-3 on
the campaign.