CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Brandeis University baseball team scored seven runs in the first two innings, but the host Case Western Reserve University relief corps kept the Judges at bay the rest of the way as the Spartans rallied for an 8-7 win in 10 innings in a University Athletic Association contest today. With the loss, the Judges fall to 10-5 overall, 1-3 in the UAA. CWRU improves to 12-11, 6-2 UAA.
Brandeis started strong, totaling seven hits and seven runs in the first two innings. In the first, grad student CF Dan Frey (Ipswich, Mass./St. Johns Prep) opened the scoring in the first with an RBI single, while junior SS Brian King (Palos Verde, Calif./Palos Verde) brought in a run with a groundout. Junior LF Steven Simon (Hanover, Mass./Hanover) added an RBI double and grad student 3B Victor Oppenheimer (West Hills, Calif./Chaminade) singled up the middle to make it a 4-0 game.
Case scored one in the bottom of the first without a hit, taking advantage of two walks, a deep fly to center that advanced the runner to third and a grounder to second that plated the run. Brandeis strung together four straight hits with two out in the second. Frey singled in his second RBI of the game, while King plated two more to give the Judges a 7-1 lead.
The Spartans scored their second run without a hit in the second on an error, two walks and a sacrifice fly to right. Brandeis got out of the inning with a double play.
The Judges had base-runners in just about every inning after the second, thanks to eight CWRU walks, but with only two hits, they were unable to get on the board again. The Spartans clawed away at the lead, scoring three times in the six on a Jack Anderson single and a two-run hit by Zack Carinci. Their second sacrifice fly of the game in the seventh cut the Brandeis lead to 7-6.
The Judges had a chance to add a key insurance run in the eighth, on a walk and two errors, but CWRU threw out Frey trying to score from second on a booted ball for the second out of the inning. Oppenheimer drew a walk to load the bases, but the Spartans escaped further damage with a strikeout. In the bottom of the frame, the hosts tied things up with an infield single to short followed by a double to right-centerfield by Nick Harms. Brandeis threw out Harms trying to stretch it into a triple, helping to force extra innings.
In the 10th, Brandeis got a two-out runner when grad student Mike Khoury (E. Bridgewater, Mass./E. Bridgewater) was hit by a pitch, but they could not advance him past first base. In the bottom of the frame, 2B Cole Jarret reached on an error, and SS Jacob Lott followed with a triple to right that proved to be a walk-off hit.
Brandeis was paced offensively by Frey, who went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI, and King, who was 1-for-5 with three RBI. Simon and Oppenheimer also had two hits. Junior pitcher Jakob Newman (Manhattan Beach, Calif. / Mira Costa) was the most effective of five Brandeis pitchers, going four innings, allowing three hits and two walks without allowing a run. Graduate student Brandon Musto (Milton, Mass./Milton) suffered the loss as the pitcher in the 10th inning, allowing a hit and an unearned run in one-third of an inning to fall to 1-2.
Zack Carinci was the player of the game for CWRU, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored at the plate and throwing three innings of hitless relief, striking out four and walking one. He improved to 1-1.
Brandeis returns to action next weekend with their first home UAA series since 2019 when they take on NYU for four games, starting Friday, April 8 at 3:30 p.m.