PEORIA, Ariz. - On February 21, Brandeis University baseball team suffered a second straight loss, 8-3, to Hastings College. With the loss, Brandeis falls to 2-2 on the year, while Hastings moves to 2-7 with the victory.
Hastings pitching was too strong in this one as their starting senior pitcher Bryant McCann (Omaha, Neb.) pitched eight innings giving up three runs on 10 hits, striking out 14, and not allowing one walk.
Rookie SS Sean O'Hare (Southampton, Mass./Hampshire Regional) led things off in the third inning for the Judges as he singled and then stole second to get into scoring position. With two outs, Rookie 3B Jon Chu (Hollis Hills, N.Y./Bronx Science) doubled in O'Hare for the first run of the game. Hastings answered in the top of the fourth as they scored six runs on five hits and one error with only one out to give them a 6-1 lead. They got a triple out of junior 2B Blake Marquardt (Aurora, Colo.) which drove in two as he went 3-for-5 from the plate.
Hastings then got an RBI double out of their senior C Joe Jeanjaquet (Parker, Colo.) which drove in Marquardt. Sophomore 1B A.J. Clark (Colorado Springs, Colo.) picked up two RBI's on a single to centerfield. He was driven in on a single by senior Pat Morey (Omaha, Neb.) for the final run of the inning. Clark finished the day 3-for-5 at the plate with a triple and scored two times.
The Judges scored their second run of the game in the bottom of the fifth. Senior CF Mike Alfego (Shrewsbury, Mass./St. John's) doubled and then advanced to third on a Nick Gallagher (Southboro, Mass./St. John's) single. With one out Drake Livada (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/ Cape Elizabeth) produced an RBI single to drive in Alfego. Brandeis would not get anymore runs this innings as they left two runners on base. They then scored in the bottom of the seventh when O'Hare tripled and scored on a Gallagher ground out to the shortstop.
Four players had multi-hit games for the Judges. O'Hare went 3-for-5 at bat, with a triple, scored two runs and a stolen base while Chu had one RBI and went 2-for-4 with a double on the day. He was followed by Gallagher who went 2-for-5 from the plate and drove in one run while sophomore LF Tony Deshler (Pepperell, Mass./Lawrence Academy) also went 2-for-4 at the dish.