Baseball knocked off by #13 CWRU, 5-2 and 12-6

WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University baseball team dropped its University Athletic Association openers today against 13^th-ranked Case Western Reserve University. The Judges dropped the opener, 5-2, at Victory Field in Watertown. They then returned to campus, where the Spartans spoiled Brandeis's first true home game of the season, 12-6. Brandeis falls to 2-11 on the season, 0-2 UAA. Case improves to 18-3, 5-1 UAA.

HOW IT HAPPENED – Game 1 (Case, 5-2)

• The first game was a pitcher's duel between Brandeis sophomore Greg Tobin (Medway, Mass./Catholic Memorial) and Spartan junior Mark Gross.
• Tobin (1-2) went 7.1 innings and limited Case Western Reserve to just four hits and three earned runs. He struck out seven and walked four.
• Gross (4-1) was even better, tossing 7.2 innings of two-run ball. He allowed five hits and struck out nine while walking just one.
• Brandeis got on the board in the bottom of the first when sophomore SS Victor Oppenheimer (West Hills, Calif./Chaminade) scored all the way from first on a double by rookie CF Dan Frey (Ipswich, Mass./St. John's Prep).
• The visitors answered in the next half inning as catcher Tyler Wypiszenski tripled to bring home LF Nick Glasser, who had walked and stolen second. The damage could have been worse, but Brandeis left fielder Donnie Weisse (Swampscott, Mass./St. Mary's) threw out Wypiszenski at the plate on a line drive to end the inning.
• Spartan CF Samuel Neal figured in three of the next four runs for the visitors. He drove in a run in the fifth with a double. In the eighth, he drew a leadoff walk, stole second, moved to third on a fly ball to center and scored on a squeeze bunt. In the ninth he hit a sacrifice fly.
• CWRU added another insurance run on an error in the eighth to make it 4-1.
• Brandeis got one run back in the bottom of the frame when Weisse doubled home catcher Luke Hall (Georgetown, Mass./Georgetown) to make it 4-2. Spartan closer Nick Killingstad stranded Weisse at second and retired three of the four hitters he face in the ninth to earn his sixth save of the season.
• Three of Brandeis's five hits went for extra bases, with 3B Mike Khoury (East Bridgewater, Mass./East Bridgewater) tripling in addition to the doubles by Frey and Weiss.
• CWRU DH Alex Capetillo had the only multiple-hit game, going 3-4 with two runs scored and a double.

HOW IT HAPPENED – Game 2 (Case, 12-6)

• The teams returned to Waltham to see the ball fly out of the park, with six home runs hit total – four by Case Western Reserve and two by Brandeis.
• The Spartans jumped out to a 9-0 lead on the strength of home runs by Rocco Maue and Wypiszenski in the fourth and fifth innings. Maue also had an RBI double in the first, coming around to score on a sacrifice fly.
• Brandeis got on the board in the sixth on an RBI single by Frey.
• Trailing 9-1, the Judges closed the gap significantly in the eighth when DH Scott Ziegler (Avon, Conn./Avon Old Farms) came to the plate with the bases loaded and made his first collegiate home run a grand slam.
• Case responded in the ninth with back-to-back homers by Maue and Capetillo. Maue's homer was his 10^th of the season, setting a CWRU single-season record.
• Brandeis rounded out the homer parade in the bottom of the ninth with Khoury's solo shot to center. It was his team-leading third of the season.
• Frey finished the game 3-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Ziegler's four RBI tied for game-high honors, while Khoury also had two RBI  and scored two runs.
• Maue and Capetillo combined to go 7-11 with six RBI and six runs scored with three homers and three doubles. Maue was 3-4 with four RBI and four runs scored, while Capetillo was 4-6 with two RBI and two runs.
• Casey McConihe (2-1) earned the win for the Spartans with six innings of one-run ball. He allowed six hits and walked four, striking out five.
• Brandeis sophomore Tim Lopez (Brooklyn, N.Y./East Side Community) returned to the mound just under a month after suffering a broken jaw after getting hit by a line drive. He took the loss (0-2), going four innings and allowing four runs on six hits. He fanned four and walked three.

UP NEXT

• The Judges and Spartans meet for two more games starting at 11 a.m. tomorrow morning.