WORCESTER, Mass. (courtesy Clark University sports information) - The visiting Brandeis banged out 14 hits and leadoff hitter Tony Deshler (Pepperell, Mass./Lawrence Acad.) went 4-for-5 catapulting the Judges to an 11-3 non-conference win over Clark on Saturday afternoon at Granger Field in the opener of a doubleheader.
In addition to Deshler’s offensive output, Brandeis got an excellent performance from hurler Drew Brzozowski (Concord, Mass./Concord-Carlisle), who tossed a complete game, allowing just six hits while striking out five. It was his second-straight complete-game performance and his second win of the season.
The Judges wasted little time getting to Cougar starter James Wilson (Chatham, N.J.) as they registered five runs in the first inning highlighted by Drake Livada’s (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth) two-run double.
Clark answered back with two runs in the second on Kevin Kopec’s (Katonah, N.Y.) two-run home run left making the score, 5-2.
Brandeis was right back at it in the third when Nick Cortese (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Baldwin School of Puarto Rico) drove in two more runs with a two-run single that ended Wilson’s day after 2.2 innings.
John O’Brion (Portland, Maine/Portland), who went 1-for-2 with a pair of RBI, knocked home another Brandeis run on a sacrifice fly in the fourth then the Judges scored three in the fifth on an RBI single by Deshler and a pair of bases loaded wild pitches by reliever Derek Dubois (Haverhill, Mass.).
The Cougars other run came on an RBI groundout by Scott Hollingsworth (Tilton, N.H.) in the fifth.
Clark could only muster six hits on the day while every member of the Judges regular lineup had at least one hit.
In the second game of the day, Cougar Peter Lewis (Gardiner, Maine) scampered home from second with the game-winning run on a single by Kevin Kopec (Kotanah, N.Y.) in the bottom of the eighth lifting host Clark to a dramatic 3-2 extra innings win over the Judges.
Brandeis scored the game’s first run in the top of the first when Deshler stroked a leadoff double and came around to score on a fielding error by the first baseman.
Clark took their first lead of the day in the bottom of the third when Lewis recorded a two-out single and Hollingsworth followed with a triple to the right field corner. Mitch DeLorenzo (Berlin, Conn.) then registered a RBI double to give the Cougars a 2-1 edge.
Cougar starter Brendan Solecki (Portsmouth, R.I.) was cruising along and was one out away from finishing the game in the bottom of the seventh, when Lewis, playing third base for just the second time this season, made a fielding error on a ball hit by Deshler. He advanced to second and came around to score on single by Jon Chu (Hollis Hills, N.Y./Bronx H.S. of Science), who was thrown out at second moments after Deshler crossed home plate.
Solecki got the Judges 1-2-3 in the eighth and Lewis led off the bottom of the frame with a double down the left field line. Reliever Kyle Ritchie (Brewster, Mass./Nauset Regional), who entered in with two outs in the sixth, got the next two batters relatively easy before Kopec knocked in Lewis.
The eight-inning complete game for Solecki is his team-leading fourth on the season as he improves his record to 3-2. He allowed seven hits but no earned runs and didn’t walk a batter.
Lewis, Kopec and Hollingsworth all had two hits in game two for the Cougars, while Chu and Sean O’Hare (Southampton, Mass./Hampshire Regional) had a pair of base hits each for the Judges in the nightcap.