WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University baseball team won its seventh- and eighth-straight games today as the Judges swept visiting Amherst College in a doubleheader, 8-0 in the opener and 7-4 in the second game. With the wins, the Judges improve to 9-2 on the season as they match their longest winning streak of last season and their longest since 2016. The Mammoths fall to 4-5 on the campaign.
In the opener, the Judges got their third-straight terrific pitching performance thanks to senior Marc Maestri (Katonah, N.Y. / Somers), who tossed the team's second shutout of the week. Making just his second collegiate start, Maestri threw a complete-game eight-hitter. He struck out seven Mammoths and did not walk a batter, throwing 79 pitches, 58 of them for strikes. Maestri allowed just one Amherst runner past second base and benefitted from a pair of double plays.
Offensively, Brandeis was held hitless for the first three innings by Amherst starter Nick Giattino before breaking through in the fourth. Giattino retired the first two batters of the inning before allowing Brandeis's first hit, a single by junior 3B Brian King (Palos Verde, Calif./Palos Verde) and surrendering a walk. Sophomore SS Nick Heafey (Florence, Mass. / Williston-Northampton School) followed with a double down the right-field line that plated King to open up the scoring. Sophomore 2B Mike DiCenso (Cranston, R.I. / Moses Brown) followed with a single to right that plated two more runs before getting thrown out trying to stretch into a double.
The Judges got two more two-out runs in the fifth thanks to graduate student catcher Luke Hall (Georgetown, Mass./Georgetown), who blasted his fourth home run of the season and the 11th of his career with one on base. The Judges added three more runs in the sixth thanks to an Aidan Schleer (Sparta, N.J. / Avon Old Farms, Conn.) RBI double, a wild pitch that scored pinch runner Brian Garcia (Miami, Fla. / Immaculata La-Salle) and a Sam Nugent (Mansfield, Mass. / Mansfield) sacrifice fly that capped the scoring.
In the second game, the story was the long ball, as all but two of the game's runs came home on home runs. Amherst jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third inning when 1B Luke Padian struck a sacrifice fly and rightfielder Jackson Reydel followed with a two-run homer, his first of the season.
Brandeis answered right back in the bottom of the third when Hall connected for his second home run of the day. Two innings later, in the bottom of the fifth, Hall struck again, knocking one off the left-field foul pole with two runners on to put Brandeis ahead, 4-3. It was Hall's first career two-home run day and Brandeis's second of the season. It gave him six total homers on the season and 13 for his career, moving him into a tie for 12th on Brandeis career list.
Amherst answered right back in the top of the sixth, as Reydel delivered a game-tying round-tripper to dead centerfield to lead off the frame. Brandeis grad student Brandon Musto (Milton, Mass./Milton) came on with one inherited runner in the inning, and Amherst proceeded to get a single and a walk to load the bases with one out. The Judges got out of the inning with a couple of nice defensive plays. King barehanded a slow chopper to third and fired home for a force out, while Heafey made a diving stab at a line drive, and though he didn't snag it, recovered in time to get a force at second.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Judges rallied for three runs with two outs. Nugent draw a walk and stole second to start the rally. Junior LF Steven Simon (Hanover, Mass./Hanover) followed with an RBI single to right-centerfield, his second go-ahead hit of the weekend. Graduate student 1B Mike Khoury (E. Bridgewater, Mass./E. Bridgewater) followed with a towering home run to right field onto the Judges' softball field to give Brandeis a 7-4 cushion. The homer was Khoury's seventh of the season, tying his career-high. It was also the 25th blast of his career, moving him into a tie for second place on Brandeis's all-time list with Adam Zoldak '00. Khoury now trails all-time leader Jim Deschaine '99 by six on the career list. His seven bombs are tied for 10th on Brandeis's single-season list.
Brandeis sophomore Sean Decker-Jacoby (Los Angeles, Calif./Vistimar) came on and shut the door in the seventh, retiring the side in order for his first collegiate save. Musto earned the win with an inning of effective relief, while Amherst's Tyson Luna suffered the loss, giving up three earned runs on two hits in 1.1 innings of work.
For the day, Hall was the big hitter for the Judges, going 3-for-8 with his three homers, six RBI and three runs scored. Reydel led Amherst, going 4-for-6 with his two homers and three RBI.
Brandeis's next scheduled game, tomorrow against Lasell, has been postponed, as the Lasers need to make up a conference doubleheader. The Judges will return to action on Tuesday, March 29, at UMass Boston with a 3 p.m. first pitch.