Baseball routs Lasell, 20-6, in Battle of Stein Diamond

Mike Khoury at the plate, about to swing
Mike Khoury (Photo by Cayla Fernandes)

WALTHAM, Mass – In a meeting of the two teams who call Stein Diamond home, the Brandeis University Judges pounded out a season-high 19 hits and scored 20 runs in a game for the second time this year as they defeated Lasell University, 20-6. With the win, the Judges improve to 13-7, while the Lasers fall to 11-14.

Nine different Judges had hits in the contest, paced by graduate student 3B Victor Oppenheimer (West Hills, Calif./Chaminade) and sophomore 2B/SS Mike DiCenso (Cranston, R.I./Moses Brown), who each had four hits. Oppenheimer went 4-5 with a double, an RBI and three runs scored, while Dicenso was 4-6 with two runs scored.

Grad student 1B/2B Mike Khoury (E. Bridgewater, Mass./E. Bridgewater) was the game's top run-producer, going 2-3 with three runs scored and five RBI. Khoury had an RBI single in the third inning, was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the sixth and in seventh, he hit a three-run home run to right-center field. Khoury's homer was his team- and UAA-leading eighth of the year, but first since March 26th. It was the 26th long ball of his career, moving him within five of tying Brandeis's career record. Khoury also moved into fifth place on the Judges' career list for runs scored with 143 and into sixth on the career RBI list with 111.

The Judges had two other long balls on the afternoon. Grad student Dan Frey (Ipswich, Mass./St. John's Prep) hit a three-run bomb in the sixth, while junior Steven Simon (Hanover, Mass./Hanover) launched a solo shot in the fourth. It was Frey's fourth of the season and the ninth of his career, while the three RBI moved him into eighth place on Brandeis's all-time list with 106. Simon went yard for the second time this year and in his career.

On the mound, Brandeis had a staff game. Junior Reid Latham (North Easton, Mass./Oliver Ames) earned the win with 1.2 innings of scores ball, allowing two hits and one strikeout with no walks. It was his first career decision. Sophomore starter Sean Decker-Jacoby (Los Angeles, Calif./Vistamar) was the only other Judge to last more than an inning, going 2.1 frames, allowing two hits and three runs (two earned), two walks and striking out four.

Lasell had two multiple hitters, DH Vaun Larisa and SS Jordan Martinez. LF Matt Paharik had the Lasers' only extra-base hit, a double. Five different Lasell players drive in runs. Starter Owen Caldwell was saddled with the loss, lasting just an inning-and-a-third, allowing five hits, eight runs (seven earned) with three walks and two strikeouts. He also hit two batters. He fell to 0-2.

Brandeis opens up a four-game University Athletic Association series on Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. against Washington University.