SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (taken from a Springfield College press release) -- The Brandeis baseball team got a pair of fine performances from two rookies, second baseman Benjamin Bavly (Newton, Mass./Newton South) and pitcher Daniel Schupper (Villanova, Pa./Harriton), but the Judges couldn't fend off a ninth-inning rally from host Springfield in a 9-8 non-conference defeat.
With the win, Springfield is now 9-12-1 on the season, while the Judges fall to 8-15-1 overall.
For the Judges, sophomore Luke Zeccola (Garden City, N.Y./Chaminade) got the start and only made it through 0.2 innings, but Schupper came on to pitch 5.1 innings, giving up four hits and three runs - only one of which was earned - with one walk. The combination of Anthony Nomakeo (Westfield, Mass./Northfield Mount Hermon) and Sam Miller (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury) finished off the game for the visitors.
Offensively, the Judges were paced by Bavly, who went 3-5 with two RBI and a triple. The three-bagger was his seventh of the season, extending his single-season record which was established on Saturday at Tufts. Seven triples also led all Division III players in the last NCAA statistical rankings.
Senior Jack Baldwin (Southampton, Mass.) got the nod on the hill for Springfield, and pitched 6.1 innings, giving up just nine hits and one earned run while fanning three Brandeis batters. Sophomore Joey Gamache (Lebanon, Conn.) came on in relief and picked up his first collegiate victory, as he pitched 2.2 frames, giving up five hits and one earned run.
Wilcox was an impressive 3-for-4 at the plate, as he collected his 86th career hit, and JP Peters (Guilford, Conn.) was 2-for-4 with an RBI in the win.
Springfield struck first in the bottom of the first inning, when Zecolla walked the first three batters, before Peters grounded into a double play, but Billy Peterson (West Wareham, Mass.) crossed home to give the Pride an early 1-0 lead.
After the Judges evened the score in the top of the second, the Pride rattled off three more runs, including a sacrifice fly from Evan Moore (Portsmouth, R.I.) to score Peterson to make it 4-1, Springfield, after two.
Brandeis would cut its deficit to a pair in the top of the third inning when Liam O'Connor (Avon, Conn./Avon) came home on an RBI single from Bavly, before adding another in the top of the fifth when grad student Rob Trenk (West Orange, N.J./West Orange) crossed home to make it a one-run game.
The Judges would take a 5-4 lead with a pair of runs in the sixth, when Zeccola and Max Hart (Montville, Conn./Montville) came around to score on a Springfield error, before pushing its lead to three in the top of the seventh, when Ryan Healy (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) and Greg Heineman (Wilbraham, Mass./Minnechaug Regional) each picked up RBI singles to make it 7-4, Brandeis.
The Pride made it a two-run game in the bottom half of the frame, when Peters laced a ball to left field, which was caught, but Nick LeDuc (Belchertown, Mass.) was able to tag from third to make it 7-5, Judges, after seven.
Brandeis added its eighth run on a two out triple from Bavly, when the freshman roped a ball off the right-center field fence to score O'Connor from first base, thus giving the visitors an 8-5 lead.
The bottom of the ninth rally began with back-to-back singles from TJ Fiorino (Somers, N.Y.) and Wilcox, before Peters singled to center, loading the bases. With Drabinski at the plate, Nomakeo threw a wild pitch to score Fiorino from third, before being replaced by Miller, who walked Drabinski to load the bases once more, setting up Marsicano's heroics.
Up next, Springfield will return to New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play when it will host Emerson back on Berry-Allen Field on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.