WALTHAM, Mass. – The visiting New York University baseball team overcame a 12-6 deficit with three runs in the eighth and ninth innings today to defeat host Brandeis University, 13-12, in a University Athletic Association contest on Stein Diamond. With the loss, the Judges fall to 10-6 overall, 1-5 in the UAA, while the Violets improve to 15-4, 5-4 UAA.
The game was a back-and-forth affair, as NYU struck for four runs in the top of the first inning with Brandeis responding with five of their own in the bottom of the frame. The Violets tied things up in the top of the third, only to see the Judges respond with two of their own to take a 7-5 lead.
NYU cut into the deficit with a run in the fourth, but Brandeis looked like they took control in the sixth when they scored five times to take their 12-6 lead. NYU clawed back with a run in the seventh, setting the stage for their big eighth and ninth frames. The Violets staged the winning rally with just one hit, drawing three walks with a hit batter, and a costly two-out error by the Judges on a grounder to third that could have ended the game.
Both teams had 14 hits in the contest. Eight of Brandeis's hits went for extra bases, including a two-run shot by graduate student 3B Victor Oppenheimer (Westhill, Calif./Chaminade) that capped the Judges' five-run first, and another two-run bomb by junior RF Steven Simon (Hanover, Mass./Hanover), the first of his career, that put the hosts ahead in the third. Grad student catcher Luke Hall (Georgetown, Mass./Georgetown) had a pair of doubles and scored three runs, while Simon and grad student CF Dan Frey (Ipswich, Mass./St. Johns Prep) each drove in three runs.
NYU's 14 hits were scattered throughout their lineup, as all nine starters had at least one hit. CF Ryan Carr and 2B Jacob Singer each had three hits, including a double. First baseman Nick Argenziano reached base in five of his six plate appearances, going 1-2 and drawing four walks, including one with the bases loaded that proved to be the game-winning RBI. Nine different Violets drove in a run, with Alex Vanlandingham, Cam Dunn and Singer each driving in two. Vanlandingham had a solo home run in the third inning that tied the game at 5-all.
Brandeis sophomore Sean Decker-Jacoby (Los Angeles, Calif./Vistimar) suffered the loss on the mound, as he walked three batters and gave up one hit in the ninth inning. NYU's Joe Cetale earned the win, settling down after allowing a couple of runs in his first inning of work. He got a key double play in the seventh and worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the eighth with a pop to third and a fly to right. John Gassler earned his second save, working around a two-out error in the ninth inning.
The Judges and Violets are scheduled to meet for three more games in the series, starting with a doubleheader slated to begin at noon tomorrow.
