After being postponed a day due to rain, the baseball team weathered the storm to win a nail-biting 6-5 victory over Bridgewater State University last Friday. The Judges improved to 8-7 on the season after holding on against a frantic comeback by the Bears. Brandeis designated hitter/pitcher Pat Nicholson '11 was the standout in the game, going 3-for-5 with a key RBI double and shutting down the Bears over the last 1 1/3 innings to earn his second save of the season. Nicholson said that, though he is used to playing both sides of the ball, he hasn't contributed much offensively in the past.

"I'm generally used to hitting and pitching in practices, and did so in the past, but haven't really done [much] offensively in college," he said.

Brandeis tacked on three runs in both the third and fourth innings to jump out to a 6-0 lead. In the third, rookie shortstop Dominic Schwartz '14 led off with a single, and second baseman Sean O'Hare '12 belted a deep sacrifice fly to drive him home for a 1-0 lead. Third baseman John Chu '12 was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a single by catcher Chris Ferro '13. Nicholson then had his biggest hit of the day with a clutch two-run double to extend the lead to 3-0.

The Judges continued their offensive surge in the fourth inning, hitting three doubles to score three more runs. Right fielder Andrew Cohen '13 began the onslaught with a double and then stole third on the next pitch. Schwartz hit a double of his own to drive Cohen home, continuing his torrid start to the season. Ever since starting at shortstop against the University of Rochester in the team's first University Athletic Association game, Schwartz has hit at a .333 clip and driven in five RBIs.

O'Hare then hit the third double down the left field line to drive in Schwartz for a 5-0 lead. Chu finished the team's production with a RBI single, providing Brandeis with all the runs needed to secure the victory.

In total, the top five of the Brandeis order-Deschler, O'Hare, Chu, Ferro and Nicholson-combined for nine hits and five RBIs.

However, the Bears did not lie down quietly. After being shut down by John McGrath '11 for four innings, Bridgewater State was finally able to rattle him in the fifth inning with back-to-back homers to cut the lead to 6-3. McGrath would calm down to deliver two more strong innings, but the Bears tagged him for another run in the eighth inning to end his night. McGrath finished the day with seven solid innings of work, giving up four runs on five hits and adding seven strikeouts.

"He is an excellent starter and I'm glad we saw him at the top of his game," Nicholson said of McGrath. "He's an integral part of our pitching staff and crucial to how we do in the future."

In order to get the next three outs Brandeis had to use three pitchers. Before Nicholson took over for the final four outs Jesse Link '13 and Colin Markel '14 recorded two key strikeouts but in the process surrendered runs on a double and a wild pitch. Michael Swerdloff '13 came in for just one batter, hitting him with a pitch. Nicholson walked the first batter he faced, bringing in a run that was credited to Link. With the bases still loaded, Nicholson got the out and was able to shut down the Bears the rest of the way.

"Overall, we played pretty well," Nicholson said. "[We] especially locked down on defense. Defense wins games; it's as simple as that."

Nicholson did still feel that the team has room to improve and must work on not letting their opponents back into the game.

"We almost let this game, and others earlier in the season, get away from us," he said. "We need to learn to put games away if we want to build upon our success."

Brandeis opens up a 13-game homestand with three games this week. The team hosts the Wentworth Institute of Technology tomorrow and Salve Regina University on Thursday and conclude play this week with a Sunday doubleheader against the Framingham State University Rams.