WALTHAM, Mass. – In a game that took nearly four hours thanks to rainy field conditions, the Brandeis University baseball team scored twice and had the tying run at third base in the bottom of the ninth, but the Judges couldn't get the equalizer across the plate in an 8-7 loss to Tufts, the #5 team in New England.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis: 5-28.
• Tufts: 24-6.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In a game that lasted 3:45 minutes and featured scoring in all but two innings, the Judges came up just short in the bottom of the ninth.
• Trailing 8-5 heading into the frame, senior DH Griffin Bodow (Tempe, Ariz. / Tempe Prep) led off with a double, and first-year 3B Alex Kim (Basking Ridge, N.J. / Seton Hall Prep) singled to put runners on the corners.
• Senior Steven Simon (Hanover, Mass. / Hanover) came off the bench to pinch-hit and delivered a sharp single to center to make it 8-6. Junior LF Nick Heafey (Florence, Mass. / Williston-Northampton School) bunted Kim and pinch-runner Aidan Schleer (Sparta, N.J. / Avon Old Farms (Conn.) into scoring position with one away.
• Senior CF Sam Nugent (Mansfield, Mass. / Mansfield) delivered his second RBI of the day with a sacrifice fly to center, getting Schleer 90 feet away from scoring, but Tufts reliever Jack McLaughlin induced a pop to second base to end the game and earn his first career save.
• For the game, Brandeis outhit Tufts, 14-9, while the Jumbos drew seven walks to six for the Judges.
• Nugent led the Brandeis offense by going 3-4 with a walk, a sacrifice fly, two RBI, and a run scored. Kim added a 3-4 performance with a run scored, a sacrifice, and a stolen base.
• Bodow's double was the team's only extra-base hit. He and Heafey each had two runs scored.
• Tufts' offense was by 2B Jesse McCullough, who went 3-5 with an RBI, a double, and two runs scored. His two-bagged was the visitors' only extra-base hit.
• Brandeis junior Sean Decker-Jacoby (Los Angeles, Calif./Vistimar) took the loss. He threw 4.2 innings of eight-hit ball, allowing six runs (five earned). He struck out five and walked three, falling to 0-6 on the season.
• Senior Jakob Newman (Manhattan Beach, Calif. / Mira Costa) went 1.2 innings and allowed two hits on just one run, but he walked three and hit a batter. He also struck out three.
• Senior Christian Petrisko (Fort Lauderdale, Fla / Westminster Academy) tossed two perfect innings of relief in the eighth and ninth, striking out four of the six batters he faced.
• Tufts starter Lucas Gustavson started the game and had a no-decision after 3.2 innings. He allowed three hits and four runs (two earned), walking one with two Ks.
• Hunter Beindorff earned the win in relief, allowing five hits but just one earned run in an inning of work to move to 1-1. McLaughlin finished with a save, going three innings with five hits and two runs allowed. He walked three and fanned two.

UP NEXT

• The Judges play host to Western New England University under the lights tomorrow at 7 p.m.