NEWPORT, R.I. (courtesy Salve Regina sports information) – The Brandeis University baseball team cut a six-run deficit to two in the eighth inning, but the Judges couldn't overcome the early hole as they fell to host Salve Regina University, 9-7, on Brother Reynolds Field today. The loss, Brandeis's fifth in a row, drops the Judges to 5-13 on the season, while SRU improves to 5-7, snapping a three-game skid.
Sophomore catcher Dan Gad (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) paced the Brandeis attack, going 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs, and two runs scored, while freshman Kyle Brenner (Brookfield, Mass./St. Peter-Marian) and junior Pat Seaward (York, Maine/York) also compiled three hits apiece. Graduate student Pat Nicholson (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) also had a fine day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double and two walks, while also scoring a pair of runs.
Sophomore Anthony Conte (Georgetown, Mass.) was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate while junior Daniel Kehew (Portsmouth, R.I.) earned a four-out save to lead the Seahawks. Conte added an RBI, two runs scored, and two stolen bases to his four-hit day. Senior Matt Capone (East Providence, R.I.) finished 3-for-5 with a pair of runs, while sophomore Daniel Donohue (Westbury, N.Y.), senior Nicholas Politelli (Warwick, R.I.), and senior Byron Reding (Darien, Conn.) each went 2-for-5 with a double in the win. On the mound, freshman Matthew Croteau (Cheshire, Conn.) pitched five strong innings to improve to 2-0 in his rookie campaign. Junior Robin Lowe (Andover, Mass.) pitched two scoreless frames in relief, while Kehew was dominant in his 1.1 innings, retiring each of the final four outs via the K to earn his first save of the year.
The Judges grabbed an early 1-0 lead by scratching across a run in the top of the first. Nicholson got things started with a leadoff double, and after moving to third on a sac bunt, the Brandeis leadoff man scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Gad.
The Seahawks put together a two-out rally in the third, scoring three runs on two hits, including an RBI double by Reding to claim a 3-1 advantage.
After Salve Regina added a run in the third on an RBI single by sophomore Nicholas Dell'Anno (Reading, Mass.), the Seahawks plated three more in the fourth, including a two-run single by freshman Joe Haley (North Kingstown, R.I.) to go ahead by the score of 7-1.
The Judges answered by posting a three spot of their own in the top of the fifth. Brandeis compiled five hits in the inning, including three consecutive RBI singles to cut the SRU lead down to 7-4.
In the bottom of the fifth, Reding flashed some terrific base running. He led off the inning with an infield hit to third, and when the throw bounced away from the first baseman, he scampered into scoring position. Reding then scored all the way from second on an infield single to deep short, stretching the Seahawks' lead to 8-4.
After Donohue put Salve Regina on top 9-4 with an run scoring double in the seventh, the Judges rallied for three runs on four hits in the top of the eighth.
With the score at 9-7 and the tying run standing at the plate with two outs in the eighth, Salve Regina head coach Steve Cirella went to the bullpen and brought in closer Daniel Kehew, who promptly got out of the inning with a strikeout.
Kehew went on to procure the save by striking out the side in the ninth, sealing the 9-7 win for the Seahawks in dominant fashion.
The Judges will return to action at home versus Framingham State on Sunday, while the Seahawks will hit the road for their conference opener on Saturday, facing Eastern Nazarene in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) doubleheader beginning at 12:30 p.m.