AMHERST, Mass. -- The Brandeis baseball team suffered a 7-0 non-conference defeat at the hands of Amherst College on Friday afternoon. The Judges were held to seven hits over nine innings as they fell to 5-11 on the campaign. The Lord Jeffs improved to 9-5.
Brandeis had just one multiple hitter on the day, senior catcher Chris Ferro (Walpole, Mass./Walpole). Ferro had a first-inning double that hit off the top of the fence and just missed being a home run. It came with two outs, and the Judges were unable to advance him past second. Ferro also led off the sixth inning with a single, but was erased trying to steal second. Sophomore 2B Tom McCarthy (Yonkers, N.Y./Fieldston School) also reached base twice, getting hit by a pitch in the sixth and singling in the ninth. Junior Dominic Schwartz (San Fransisco, Calif./Lowell) was the only other Brandeis player to reach second base when he stole second with two away in the sixth, but could get no further.
Amherst junior Dylan Driscoll was on the hill for the whole game for the Lord Jeffs, shutting down the Judges. He struck out two and didn't walk a batter. He improved to 3-0 on the season by throwing just 98 pitches in the complete game. A pair of juniors, shortstop Taiki Kasuga and first baseman Eric West each tallied three hits and drove in a run to pace the Lord Jeff offense. Rookie catcher Connor Gunn plated two runners in the four-run third inning, providing all the scoring the hosts would need.
On the hill for Brandeis, senior Mike Swerdloff (Scarsdale, N.Y./Ardsley) took the loss for Brandeis, falling to 1-2 as he yielded nine hits and four runs over 5.2 innings of work, striking out four and walking one. Sophomore Elio Fernandez (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) came on in the sixth before surrendering a run in the seventh then giving way to rookie James Machado (Dracut, Mass./Dracut) for the final out of the frame. Sophomore Kyle Brenner (Brookfield, Mass./St. Peter Marian) pitched the eighth for the Judges, yielding the final two Amherst runs.
Brandeis returns to action on Tuesday afternoon when they take on Tufts University in their home opener at 3 p.m.