WALTHAM, Mass. – Sophomore righty Dylan Britton (Poughquag, N.Y./Arlington) tossed seven strong innings to earn his first collegiate win and senior CF Tony Deshler (Pepperell, Mass./Lawrence Acad.) went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored out of the leadoff spot as the Brandeis baseball team won its home opener on Stein Diamond, 8-3, over Salem State University. The Judges improve to 9-7 with the win, while the Vikings fall to 3-6 after their New England debut.
Britton, who had lost the previous five decisions in his career, was fantastic in his longest outing in a Judges uniform. He gave up eight hits and struck out a career-best seven SSU hitters in seven innings of work to improve to 1-1 in 2011. Britton allowed just three runs, only one of which was earned. He worked out of trouble in his final two innings, leaving the bases loaded with a grounder to third in the sixth and getting a pair of strikeouts with runners on second and third in the seventh.
At the plate, Deshler got the job done out of the leadoff spot. He doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by junior 3B Jon Chu (Hollis Hills, N.Y./Bronx H.S. of Science) in the first. In the fifth, he led off with a two-bagger and scored two batters later on a Chu single.
Three other Brandeis players had multiple hits. Sophomore LF Nick Cortese (Guaynabo, P.R./Baldwin School of Puerto Rico) matched Deshler with three hits and an RBI double. Senior 1B Eric Rosenberg (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills) went 2-for-3 with a game-high three RBI, including a two-run single in the first, and a stolen base, while senior DH Pat Nicholson (E. Walpole, Mass./Walpole) was 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. Chu finished going 1-for-2 with two RBI, two runs scored, a walk and a sacrifice fly. The Judges' 13 hits were one shy of their season-high and marked the 12th time in 16 games that they had at least 10 hits.
Salem State rookie Ryan Hyjek (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) suffered the loss on the hill, falling to 0-1. He lasted 4.2 innings, allowing 10 hits and all eight runs (seven earned). He struck out four, walked one and hit a batter before giving way to a bullpen that did a fine job. Three SSU relievers combined to toss 3.1 innings of three-hit ball, striking out two and walking one.
At the plate, sophomore 3B Kevin Salines (Melrose, Mass./Melrose) was the Vikings' only multiple hitter, going 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
Brandeis is scheduled to return to action tomorrow at home at 3 p.m. against Wentworth Institute of Technology, while Salem State opens its home campaign at the same time against Endicott College.