NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. – The Brandeis University baseball team opened its 2023 season with a 5-0 shutout of Wheaton College today at the New England Baseball Complex in Northborough today. Senior Christian Tejada (Providence, R.I. / Bishop Hendricken) and grad student Marc Maestri (Katonah, N.Y. / Somers) combined to hold the Lyons to four hits in the contest.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis, 1-0
• Wheaton, 1-1

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Tejada and Wheaton's Ryan McCarroll traded zeroes on the hill through the first five innings.
• The Judges turned a pair of double players to get out of some trouble in the first and the fifth innings.
• Wheaton had its best threat of the game in the fifth, loading the bases with one out, but Judge third baseman Brian King (Palos Verde, Calif. / Palos Verde) and sophomore catcher Justin Keeler (Seymore, Conn. / St. Joseph's) executed a 5-2-3 double play to keep the game scoreless.
• After Tejada retired the first two batters of the sixth, he gave up a single up the middle. Coach Derek Carlson called on Maestri, who got a fielder's choice to short on his first pitch.
• Brandeis finally broke through with a run in the bottom of the frame. After McCarroll retired the first two batters, he issued a walk and gave up a single to right to Judge first-year DH Alex Kim (Basking Ridge, N.J. / Seton Hall Prep).
• Wheaton head coach Eric Podbelski summoned Jackson Walsh to face Brandeis senior RF Steven Simon (Hanover, Mass. / Hanover), who had the Judges' only hit prior to the inning back in the first.
• After Walsh got ahead, 0-2, Simon battled back to even the count before driving the ball up the middle to score junior Sam Nugent (Mansfield, Mass. / Mansfield).
• After Maestri struck out the side in the top of the seventh, Brandeis broke things open in the bottom of the frame. After a single, a fielder's choice and a walk, Keeler came to the plate. He drove a ball to right-center that carried over the fence for a three-run shot, the first of his career, making it 4-0, Brandeis.
• The next three Judges also recorded singles, as a perfect hit-and-run by Nugent put runners on the corners, allowing Kim to drive in his first collegiate run to make it 5-0.
• Wheaton put got runners to second base in each of the last two innings, but the Brandeis defense made sure they got no further.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Simon (2-3, HBP, RBI) and Kim (2-4, RBI) were the only multiple hitters for the Judges, while DH Will Haskell (2-3) had two of Wheaton's four hits.
• Keeler's three-run home run was his first career round-tripper and his third hit in seven career at-bats.
• Tejada went 5.2 innings in his longest career outing. He gave up three hits, struck out five and walked four, throwing 45 of his 86 pitches for strikes.
• Maestri earned his fourth career win with 3.1 innings of one-hit ball. He struck out five of his 10 outs and walked a batter.
• The pair held Wheaton to just 1-for-16 with runners on base.
• McCarroll went 5.2 innings and allowed two hits and one earned run. He struck out eight and walked two, suffering the loss.
• Jackson Walsh allowed six Brandeis hits and four earned runs in two-third of an inning worked.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• This was Brandeis's first win over Wheaton since 2007 and their first-ever shutout of the Lyons.
• Brandeis head coach Derek Carlson '91 and Wheaton head coach Eric Podbelski '91 were battery-mates with the Judges from 1988-91.

UP NEXT

The Judges are scheduled to meet Endicott