WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis baseball team battled difficult weather all season long, so the Judges weren't going to be deterred from playing their Senior Day contest. Despite a rain storm that blew through Waltham a couple of hours before game time with Amherst College, the Judges' coaches and staff pulled a heroic effort to get the game played with just a two-hour delay. Though Brandeis suffered a 6-0 defeat at the hands of the Mammoths, the seniors were able to play one final game on their home turf.
Prior to the game, the six seniors were recognized: infielder Jay Schaff (Cheshire, Conn./Xavier); outfielder Ryan Tettemer (Westfield, Mass./Suffield Academy); pitcher Mike Musto (Milton, Mass./Milton); outfielder Anthony Nomakeo (Westfield, Mass./Northfield Mount Hermon); infielder Marvic Gomez (Providence, R.I./Juanita Sanchez); and pitcher Liam Coughlin (Townsend, Mass./Lowell Catholic).
Amherst left fielder Ariel Kenney spoiled the seniors' final home game, just Brandeis's second on Stein Diamond this season. Kenney went 2-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored. He delivered a two-run home run down the left field line in the third inning against Judge rookie starter Albert Guttierez (Miami, Fla./Belen Jesuit Prep) then belted a two-run double against first-year reliever Greg Tobin (Medfield, Mass./Catholic Memorial) in the seventh.
On the mound, five Mammoth pitchers combined to hold Brandeis to five hits. George Long earned the win, going the first five innings and giving up just one hit and two walks while striking out six. Four other pitchers tossed each of the final four frames.
Brandeis had a couple of terrific chances to break the shutout bid. In the fourth, rookie 2B Tim Lopez (Brooklyn, N.Y. / East Side Community) singled to lead off with the team's first hit, then classmate Dan O'Leary (Lynnfield, Mass./Lynnfield) drew a walk. After Nomakeo bunted the runners into scoring position, Long got a strikeout and pop to center to strand them.
In the ninth, Brandeis loaded the bases with one away on a single by Joshua Rakowsky (New Fairfield, Conn. / New Fairfield), an Amherst error and a Schaff single, but sharp line drive to second base produced a double play to end the game.
Brandeis (5-21) will wrap up their season tomorrow at UMass Dartmouth at 3:30 p.m. Amherst (17-12) takes on UMass Boston tomorrow at home at 4 p.m.