Posted: Apr 02, 2017
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Brandeis University baseball team wrapped up a four-game University Athletic Association series at Case Western Reserve today with a pair of losses The Judges fell to the Spartans 8-0 in the opener and 5-2 in the second game. Brandeis is now 1-9 on the season, 0-4 in the UAA, while CWU is 13-11 overall and 6-2 in the UAA.
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME ONE (Case Western Reserve 8, Brandeis 0)
- In the third game of the series, Brandeis was held to just three hits for the second game in a row. CWRU's Jake Shields struck out 12 and walked two in the complete-game effort. He improved to 2-3.
- Brandeis rookie Tim Lopez (Brooklyn, N.Y./East Side Community) surrendered all eight runs to the hosts, giving up nine hits and eight runs (seven earned) over the first four innings. He falls to 0-1.
- Seniors Anthony Nomakeo (Westfield, Mass./Northfield Mount Hermon) and Mike Musto (Milton, Mass./Milton) held the Spartans scoreless in the final four innings, but the Judges were already behind. Nomakeo went three innings, while Musto went one.
- CWRU got all the scoring they would need in the bottom of the first, when Dan Watson delivered a two-run single to center.
- The Spartans blew things open in the fourth, when they tagged Lopez for six more runs. The big blows were a lead-off home run by Jacob Kucia and a three-run bomb for Josh Neal.
- Brandeis's hits came from rookies Dan O'Leary (Lynnfield, Mass./Lynnfield) and Kyle Slevira (Manchester, N.H./Hopkinton) and senior Jay Schaff (Cheshire, Conn./Xavier).
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME TWO (Case Western Reserve 5, Brandeis 2)
- The Judges struck first in the second contest without benefit of a hit. Schaff led off with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Rookie Victor Oppenheimer (West Hills, Calif./Chaminade) flew out to right, allowing Schaff to tag to third, and O'Leary's fly ball to left brought him in with a sacrifice fly.
- Case answered in the second on back-to-back doubles from Chris Shorter and Noah Merle.
- The Spartans took the lead in the third when Kucia bounced a two-out single through the left side, plating Aaron Cain.
- Brandeis responded in the fifth, with Oppenheimer's RBI single to left that brought home rookie 1B Joshua Rakowsky (New Fairfield, Conn./New Fairfield).
- The Spartans scored the winning run in the bottom of the inning. Cain led off with a single, stole second, moved to third on a balk and scored on a Greg Tobin (Medway, Mass./Catholic Memorial) wild pitch. Eric Eldred followed with an RBI single that plated Josh Neal, who had been hit by a pitch during the sequence.
- CWRU added an insurance run in the sixth on Neal's two-out single to left that plated Rocco Maue, who had led off with a double.
- Brandeis was unable to get anything going against the Spartan bullpen, which allowed just one walk over the final four innings.
- Tobin suffered the loss with 4.1 innings of seven-hit ball. He allowed four runs, all earned, while striking out five and not walking a batter. Case's Casey McConihe earned the win, giving up five hits and two earned runs in five innings of work. He fanned five and walked four.
UP NEXT
- Brandeis returns to New England for a Wednesday make-up game at Clark University slated for a 4:30 p.m. start. The Judges will then play host to 10th-ranked Emory in their first-ever home UAA games next Friday through Sunday. Prior to 2017, all UAA contests were played in Florida during a week in March.