WALTHAM, Mass. – Down to their last strike against one of the top closers in Division III, the Brandeis University baseball team rallied for a 6-5 victory over UMass Boston today in their season finale on Stein Diamond. The Judges close their regular season with a 17-20 record, while the Beacons fall to 26-11.

Brandeis was down 5-4 entering the bottom of the ninth after UMB Bobby Tramondozzi, who was tied for fifth in D3 with nine saves, retired the side in the eighth. Sophomore Alex Parrott (Nashua, N.H./Nashua South) led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to left. He was moved into scoring position on a bunt by sophomore shortstop Dominick Raphael (). After Tramondozzi induced a pop to short for the second out, Brandeis sophomore third baseman Mike Khoury (E. Bridgewater, Mass./E. Bridgewater) drove a 2-2 pitch down the right field line, plating Parrott to tie the score. That brought up sophomore first baseman Isaac Fossas (Dudley, Mass./Milton Academy), who also worked the count to 2-2 before bouncing a ball through the left side. Khoury slide past a late throw to score the game-winning run. The runs were only the third and fourth that Tramandozzi had allowed all season, both of which came in the Beacons' season opener back on March 7. They made a winner out of senior Daniel Schupper (Villanova, Pa./Harriton) in his 20^th appearance of the season and 57^th in his career, ranking him sixth in both single-season and career appearances.

Brandeis had jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the contest, with sophomore left fielder Tommy Sand (So. Windsor, Conn./So. Windsor) singling in a pair of runs in the first and Khoury delivering an RBI groundout in the second. With two RBI on the day, Khoury finished with 41 this season, tied for the 10^th most in program history.

UMass Boston exploded for five runs on five hits and three errors in the third inning. Right fielder Nick Herzog got the visitors on the board with a two-run home run with one out against Brandeis junior Greg Tobin (Medfield, Mass./Catholic Memorial School). The next two batter reached on a walk and a  single, but Tobin got the second out on a strikeout. Beacon third baseman Eddie Riley responded with a two-run double to center field, and center fielder Danny Brown followed with a single that made it 5-3.

Tobin (5.2 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) and three relievers were able to hold down UMass Boston after that, as sophomore Mason Newman (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle), rookie Marc Maestri (Katonah, N.Y./Somers) and Schupper allowed just two hits and two walks over the final 3.1 innings of work. The Judges got back within one run on back-to-back doubles in the fifth by sophomore center fielder Dan Frey (Ipswich, Mass./St. Johns Prep) and sophomore catcher Luke Hall (Georgetown, Mass./Georgetown).

Brandeis had 11 hits, with two each coming from Khoury, Fossas, Sand and Parrott. UMB had 12 hits, paced by Riley's game-high three.