Baseball gets on winning track with 9-1, 10-0 sweep of JWU

Tim Lopez pitching
Tim Lopez '20/MA '21

WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University baseball team used a timely combination of pitching and hitting to sweep a doubleheader from visiting Johnson and Wales University today, 9-1 and 10-0. The Judges pounded out 20 hits – 10 in each game – while holding the Wildcats to just eight total – three in the first and five in the second.

Brandeis takes the weekend series to improve to 2-1 on the season, while JWU falls to 3-4.

On the hill, graduate student Josh Garber (Bedford, Mass. / Lawrence Academy) earned the win in the opener, going five innings and allowing just two hits and the lone earned run scored by JWU. He struck out four and walked one to earn his first win in a Brandeis uniform. Junior Cam Roberts (Leominster, Mass. / Nashoba Regional) came in and allowed just one hit in the last two innings, striking out two.

Not to be outdone, a pair of veterans continued their mastery in game 2. Graduate student Tim Lopez (Brooklyn, N.Y. / East Side Community) allowed four hits and one walk with five strikeouts in five innings. Another grad student, Brandon Musto (Milton, Mass./Milton) fanned four and allowed just one hit in the final two frames.

At the plate, senior 1B Isaac Fossas (Dudley, Mass./Milton Academy) wielded the big bat, going 5-for-8 with five RBI in the two contests. After going 2-4 with one run driven in in the opener, Fossas erupted to knock in career-high four runs with a 3-4 performance in the second contest. In the third inning, he blasted a three-run home run to left-centerfield, his first of the season and the eighth of his career. In the sixth, Fossas's double to left scored a runner all the way from first.

In the opener, the Judges' senior 3-4-5 hitters – DH Mike Khoury (E. Bridgewater, Mass./East Bridgewater), catcher Luke Hall (Georgetown, Mass./Georgetown) and CF Dan Frey (Ipswich, Mass./St. John's Prep) – went a combined 5-for-11 with six RBI. They each drove in two runs, and Frey had the only extra-base hit among them, an RBI double in the first inning that opened the scoring.

Johnson and Wales' lone run came on a home run by Ramiel Rodriguez in the third inning of game one. Joe Maracic had the visitors' only multi-hit performance, going 2-3 in the second contest. Armani Henderson added a double and stolen base for JWU in the nightcap.

Brandeis returns to action on Wednesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. when they meet Lasell University in a doubleheader. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools despite sharing a home field since 2009.