In the sunny Florida weather, the baseball team emulated the erratic climate of New England: hot one day and cold the next. The Judges' 3-3 week at the University Athletic Association championship in Sanford, Fl. saw the team unleashing its bats in a 14-1 rout of Case Western Reserve University on Friday before being shut out by Washington University in St. Louis the next afternoon.Tim Dunphy '06, a two-time conference all-star, pitched seven and one-third strong innings against Washington on Saturday, allowing just five hits and one run, while striking out seven. However, the Judges could not muster any run support, coming up with just three hits against junior pitcher Brent Buffa, who notched a complete-game shutout.

"It was a well-pitched game on both sides," pitcher Aaron Landes '06 said. "We just didn't hit very well and they executed better than we did."

Rookie reliever James Collins '09 allowed the Bears to pad their 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the ninth inning.

While the Judges were still shaking off rust from the long off-season heading into the game, the Bears, having started their season much earlier, were in full swing. Washington entered the contest with a conference leading 14-2 record.

"It is only our first few games, so we are just trying to get things going," first baseman Chris Navis '06 said.

Washington also beat Brandeis 5-3 Thursday in the first game of the Judges' double-header. Craig Letendre '08 went the distance for the Judges for his first career complete game. He gave up 10 hits and striking out nine, while three of the runs he gave up were unearned. With the Judges leading 3-2 in the fifth inning, a two-out error by the Judges opened the floodgates, as the Bears' next four batters singled off Letendre en-route to a 5-3 lead.

Offensively, the Judges were a much different team on Thursday and Friday against the weaker pitching staffs of the University of Rochester and Case Western. Earlier in the week against Case Western, the Judges exploded with a 13-run fourth inning in which they sent 18 batters to the plate and notched 10 hits.

"Our lineup is phenomenal," Navis said. "One through nine we have guys who can come up consistently with big hits."

Besides the two losses to Washington, the Judges' lineup also struggled against Emory. The team lost its first game of the tournament to the Eagles 3-1. The Judges' one unearned run came in the first inning, as Chuck Sheehan '08 reached base on a dropped third strike and eventually scored on an Emory error. The team could not muster any more offense the rest of the day, totaling just four hits and striking out 10 times.

"It's kind of back and forth with the hitting, so once we find out strengths, we will score more runs," Letendre said.

Including the complete game by Letendre on Thursday, the Judges' starting pitchers logged heavy innings all week. With the loss of last year's star reliever, conference-leading closer Brian Lambert '05, who now pitches in the Washington Nationals' organization, the Judges are searching for bullpen stability early in the season.

For now, Landes is filling in as the Judges' closer, and he is confident that he can get the job done.

"A future major-league baseball player like Lambert is tough to fill in for, but I hope that I can try and pick up his slack," Landes said.

Returning from Florida, the Judges have three home games this week beginning with their first home game of the season today at 3 p.m. against the Wentworth Institute of Technology.