Baseball drops another to #24 Case, 16-6

Dominic Schwartz '14 (Photo by Sportspix)
Dominic Schwartz '14 (Photo by Sportspix)

SANFORD, Fla. -- The Brandeis University baseball team fell behind by a large margin early and the Judges were unable to rebound as they dropped a 16-6 decision to 24th-ranked Case Western Reserve University at the 2014 University Athletic Association tournament. With the loss, the Judges fall back to .500 at 5-5, 1-3 in the UAA, while the Spartans improve to 9-1, 4-0 UAA.

Brandeis never recovered from a six-run second inning against Case. The Spartans had a two-run double from rightfielder Josh Neal and a three-run home run by 3B Andrew Gronski in the frame. The Judges did get half of the runs back in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by rookie catcher Connor Doyle (Avon, Conn/Avon Old Farms) and a two-run double by senior left fielder Brian Ing (Sandwich, Mass./Sandwich)

The Spartans got two of those runs back in the fourth on a two-run blast by shortstop Andrew Frey, and following a 32 minute rain delay, they tacked on three more in the fifth. Brandeis countered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, as junior Tom McCarthy (Yonkers, N.Y./Fieldston School) scored on a wild pitch and Doyle plated sophomore right fielder Max Hart (Montville, Conn./Montville). Case scored five more runs in the seventh and eighth innings before rookie DH Cameron Shaw (E. Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) plated the game's final run in the eighth inning to make the score 16-6. The UAA plays with a 10-run rule, ending the contest one inning early. 

Case pounded out 21 hits to produce their 16 runs, led by two big hitters, Frey and Gronksi. Frey went 4-6 with a double, a home run, five RBI and two runs scored, while Gronski was a double shy of the cycle, going 3-4 with four RBI and four runs scored. Connor Faix picked up the win for the Spartans, going five innings, allowing eight hits and five runs (two earned). He walked two and struck out two.

For the Judges, Ing went 2-5 with two RBI and now leads the team with a .425 batting average and nine runs batted in. Doyle went 2-3 with two RBI and a run scored. Senior Dominic Schwartz (San Francisco, Calif./Lowell) led the Judges with three hits. Hart was 2-4 with a run scored and the team's only extra-base hit. Rookie Anthony Nomakeo (Westfield, Mass./Northfield Mt. Hermon) suffered the loss, giving up 10 hits and eight runs in 3.2 innings of work. 

Brandeis is back in action tomorrow with two games, facing Washington University at 11 a.m. and Emory at 2 p.m.