The last time the baseball team faced Roger Williams University at home April 24, the Judges trailed 4-0 before rallying behind outfielder Tony Deshler's '11 three hits and five RBIs en route to an 8-4 win. Two weeks later in the semifinals of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Tournament at Roger Williams, Brandeis fell behind 4-1. Despite three hits from Deshler, the team was unable to mount a comeback, losing 7-1.

The Judges finished the season 19-19 after going 1-1 in the ECAC tournament. They had defeated Rivier College 5-0 May 7th at home in the opening round.

While the Judges were able to score six runs off Roger Williams junior starter Brian Hurld in the first meeting, senior Mike Malcolm held Brandeis to one run in eight innings in this game.

"[Malcolm] was probably topping off at [only] 80 [miles per hour], but he was hitting every spot that he wanted to," assistant coach Bryan Lambert '05 said. "He kept us off-balance."

The Judges scored first when second baseman John O'Brion '10 drove in Deshler with a two-out double to center field.

Aside from Deshler's two additional hits and walks to O'Brion and third baseman James Likis '10, Malcolm kept the Judges off-base for the rest of the game.

"[Malcolm] was pretty deceptive. He had a bunch of good off-speed pitches, and he had good command of his fastball," designated hitter Pat Nicholson '11 said.

Roger Williams scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning off Brandeis starter Rocco Toppi '08, including a three-run home run by rookie left fielder Zach Porter. All four runs came with two outs.

Toppi did not allow a run for the remainder of his outing, pitching five and 1/3 innings, but the Brandeis offense was unable to bring the team any closer.

"After the first inning, [Rocco] calmed down real well and got into a groove, and he pitched a great game," Nicholson said.

Brandeis benefited from a dominant pitching performance of its own in its first-round game, as starter Drew Brzozowski '10 threw seven and 2/3 shutout innings in the team's 5-0 win over Rivier.

Brzozowski allowed only four hits, with only one runner advancing to second base the entire game. He threw just 62 pitches, 52 for strikes, and faced only one two-ball count the entire game.

"Drew usually hits his spots pretty well, and early in the game we could tell that the inside corner was going to be there for us all day. So we just stayed there and jammed a lot of guys, getting a lot of groundballs to third [base]," catcher Artie Posch '10 said.

The Judges' offense tallied five runs on 14 hits. Deshler and Likis led the attack at the top of the order, each tallying three hits and an RBI, while O'Brion added two RBIs of his own.

The team will lose a senior core of starting pitchers Tyler Robinson '08, Craig Letendre '08, and Toppi, reliever Brandon Pick '08, shortstop Malcolm Cone-Coleman '08, outfielder Chuck Sheehan '08 and utility player Pat Mathews '08 to graduation, but returns a productive group of underclassmen for next season.

Deshler was named University Athletic Association rookie of the year and was a first-team all-UAA selection after posting a .419 batting average and nine RBIs in the team's season-opening six-game conference tournament in Florida in March. He continued to impress, finishing with a .366 batting average, four home runs, 33 RBIs and a team-leading 17 stolen bases on the season.

"[Deshler] had a great trip in Florida early in the season and just kept going up and up from there," Lambert said. "He has the potential to be unbelievable."

First baseman Drake Livada '10 also built off a fast start. After collecting 10 RBIs in his first 19 at-bats, he finished the season with a .384 average, five homeruns, and 33 RBIs.

Nicholson proved to be a multi-talented player, finishing with a .330 average and 18 RBIs as the designated hitter and a team-best 3.23 earned run average in 30 and 2/3 innings of work as both a starter and reliever.

The team was able to win a share of the UAA title before earning a berth in the ECAC tournament but finished with a .500 record because of its 3-9 record in one-run games.

"If everyone steps up next year from where they were this year, obviously we would get better. Hopefully it would be good enough for us to make NCAAs," Lambert said.