The baseball team already owned a 1-0 lead against No. 5 Emory University in the bottom of the first inning last Saturday, but with two runners on base, third baseman Drake Livada '10 put the exclamation point on an eventual upset win. Livada's three-run home run to left field was part of a five-run first inning in a 10-7 victory that gave Brandeis a share of the University Athletic Association championship with the Eagles, the two-time defending tournament champions. The Judges finished the week 4-2 in the UAA and 5-2 overall, one game better than last year's 4-3 start.

"We could win and be 5-2 with a share of the conference title, or we could lose and be 4-3 and not really have much to speak about on what we did down here," first baseman Nick Gallagher '09 said. "Everybody kind of focused in before the game [Saturday] and got ready to play."

The Judges struggled to a 14-15 record last season, just the fourth time they have finished below .500 in coach Pete Varney's 26-year tenure. This year, they had a chance to win the UAA even after losing 7-5 to Emory last Wednesday and capitalized on that opportunity early in last Saturday's game.

Left fielder Tony Deshler '11 led off the inning with a single to right field, advanced to second base when second baseman John O'Brion '10 walked and scored the first run on right fielder David Almeida's '09 single up the middle. Catcher Artie Posch's '10 sacrifice bunt set the stage for Livada's three-run home run, and consecutive doubles by designated hitter Mike Alfego '09 and first baseman Nick Gallagher '09 capped the five-run inning.

"It was just a great inning," Deshler said. "We needed to get on the board first and tell Emory that we were there to play .. We knew that they could really hit the ball, so if we were going to win today, we were going to have to come out and score a bunch of runs."

Emory cut the lead to three by scoring one run in each of the next two innings, but RBIs by Gallagher and Almeida in the fourth inning widened the gap to 7-2. The Judges added three runs off Emory's bullpen in the fifth and sixth innings, turning back an Emory rally late in the game to seal the victory.

Pitcher Tyler Robinson '10, who had nine strikeouts in the game, said he was able to surprise the hitters in last Saturday's win.

"I think I just stuck to the game plan of throwing outside and keeping the hitters off balance all game," he said. "They were guessing on a lot of pitches, and [Posch] did a great job in calling the game."

The win came on the heels of last Friday's 10-4 loss to Washington University in St. Louis, when five Brandeis pitchers combined to give up 19 hits.

"I think we missed some of our spots as pitchers [against WashU] and gave up some weak hits that ended up costing the game," Robinson said. "Nothing really serious, just a lot of bloop hits that dropped in and things we couldn't really control."

Brandeis outscored its opponents 27-9 over a three-game winning streak earlier in the week, with victories against non conference opponent Washington College, Case Western Reserve University and the University of Rochester before falling to Emory last Wednesday.

In that game, starting pitcher Craig Letendre '08 surrendered seven hits and five runs in just 3 2/3 innings.

The tandem of Deshler and O'Brion set the tone at the top of the Judges' lineup throughout the week. Deshler hit .400 with seven runs and a team-high nine RBIs during the week, while O'Brion hit .464 with a team-high of two home runs and eight runs.

In pitching, Robinson went 2-0 despite a high 6.93 earned-run average, and led the Judges with 13 strikeouts. Drew Brzozowski '10 was the other Judges' pitcher to start two games, going 1-1 with a 3.95 ERA.

The Judges open their New England schedule at Salem State College March 24 at 3:30 p.m. and their home opener is March 25 at 3:30 p.m. against Wheaton College.