The baseball team wrapped up its first week of play with a 2-1 win vs. Capital and an 11-2 loss to Hanover.
The Judges ended a successful first week in Florida with a weekend split against Capital University (Ohio) and Hanover College (Ind.). The Judges defeated the Crusaders in a pitching duel on Saturday, 2-1, before falling, 11-2, to the Panthers on Sunday. Brandeis finished 3-1 in the Russ Matt Tournament and is now 4-2 on the season.
Against Capital, the Judges fell behind in the fifth inning on an unearned run. An error allowed Tyler Gibbons to advance to second base, and Gibbons scored on an RBI single by Anthony Calabrese. That would be all Capital would get, as senior Brian Ing (Sandwich, Mass./Sandwich) and rookie Anthony Nomakeo (Westfield, Mass./Northfield Mt. Hermon) combined to allow just the one unearned run in nine innings of work. Ing gave up four hits and the lone run in five innings before Nomakeo came on in relief. The rookie threw four innings of shutout ball, allowing just two runners to reach second base. He earned the win to move to 1-0.
Ing powered the Brandeis offense as well, driving in the tying run in the top of the sixth. Junior 2b Rob Trenk (West Orange, N.J./West Orange High School) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and promptly stole second. With one out, Ing ripped a double for his team-leading sixth RBI of the season.
The winning run came in the bottom of the eighth, and Trenk was again the catalyst. The junior earned a one-out walk, then advanced to second on a single by sophomore 3b Greg Heineman (Wilbraham, Mass./Minnechaug Reg.). Trenk came around to score on an error, and Nomakeo stranded two runners on base over the final two frames.
The game against Hanover was tight until the Panthers scored eight runs in the final two innings to turn a 3-2 contest into an 11-2 blowout. Hanover got individual runs in the second, third and sixth innings, before Brandeis battled back with two in the seventh. With the bases loaded and one out, senior shortstop Dominic Schwartz (San Francisco, Calif./Lowell) hit into a fielder's choice, and a Hanover error allowed a second run to cross the plate.
Junior Brent Edmunds (North Hampton, N.H./Winnacunnet High School), senior Colin Markel (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale) and sophomore James Machado (Dracut, Mass./Dracut) combined to allow just two earned runs in seven innings of work. Edmunds earned the loss despite allowing one earned run in three frames.
The Judges hit the road again late next week. They will compete in the UAA Championship beginning March 9 against Case Western.