WALTHAM, Mass. – The visiting Tufts University baseball team broke open a closed game by batting around twice in the last three innings as the Jumbos defeated host Brandeis, 16-4, on Stein Diamond this afternoon. With the win, the Judges fall to 17-13, while the Jumbos improve to 22-10.
The game was a close affair through the first six innings, as Brandeis junior Asher Kaplan (Jamaica Plain, Mass./Boston Latin School) and Tufts' Cameron Mayer each allowed three runs on seven hits over that span.
Kaplan ran into trouble in the seventh. After getting the first two outs in the frame, including a strikeout with a man on third, Kaplan surrendered five straight RBI hits as the Jumbos took an 8-3 lead. In the ninth, the first eight batters reached for the visitors as they put things out of reach by scoring eight runs. The frame was highlighted by a grand slam from catcher Connor Bowman.
After a scoreless first three innings, Tufts broke the ice in the fourth when a runner scored from third on an attempted steal at first. Brandeis answered in the bottom of the inning on an RBI double by graduate student Victor Oppenheimer (West Hills, Calif./Chaminade) with two outs. He plated fellow grad student Mike Khoury (E. Bridgewater, Mass./E. Bridgewater) who had led off the inning with a double.
Tufts went ahead in the top of the fifth on a two-run home run by Peter DeMaria, but the Judges answered in the sixth with a two-out, two-run single by junior 3B Brian King (Palo Verde, Calif./Palos Verde) that tied things at 3-all before the Jumbos' offense tore things open in their next at-bat.
Kaplan suffered the loss, falling to 1-2 on the season, while Mayer improved to 3-2.
Offensively, Brandeis was paced by Khoury, who finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a double, while King was 2-for-4 with two RBI. For Tufts, DeMaria was a triple shy of the cycle, going 5-for-5 with three RBI, three runs scored, a double and a homer. Bowman led the Jumbos with four RBI on one swing of the bat, as the grand slam was his only hit in six at-bats.
Brandeis and Tufts will meet again tomorrow at noon in Medford. The Judges then take on Suffolk on Sunday at 12 p.m. for a doubleheader that will be preceded by the team's Senior Day.