The baseball team endured mixed results last week, earning a 2-2 record over a four-game stretch. With their 10-6 victory last Sunday at Framingham State University, the Judges improved their record to 7-13 overall.

Though the Judges' offense seemed inconsistent at times throughout the week, designated hitter Dan Gad '14 is confident in the team's ability to perform.

"We have got a great team this season, and I think our record does not reflect our talents," Gad said. "I have great confidence in this team and I think we give it all we got every game."

The Judges won in an emphatic manner in their fourth game of the week against the Framingham State University Rams last Sunday, scoring 10 runs on 16 hits in support of pitcher Dylan Britton '13, the winning pitcher.

Second baseman Tom McCarthy '15 collected four hits on the day, while center fielder Liam O'Connor '16 also tallied three RBIs.

Thursday saw Brandeis lose 8-5 at home in their third game against Rhode Island College. Though the Judges scored early in this game off a sacrifice fly hit by McCarthy in the first inning, the Judges' four errors cost them crucial runs throughout the game.

The home team added three runs of their own in the bottom half of the second inning, highlighted by catcher Chris Ferro's '13 single that brought two runners home.

Brandeis could not gain the lead the rest of the game, though, and the Anchormen pulled away with five more runs the rest of the way to secure the victory. Brenner, who started the game and took the loss to fall to 0-4 on the year, gave up eight runs. Only three of them were earned runs.

In the second game of the week on Wednesday, the Judges beat Endicott College at home 11-4, tying their highest run total since opening day.
The Judges came out swinging in the first inning, with RBI singles from first baseman Kyle Brenner '15 and Gad. The Judges broke the game open in the third inning, capitalizing on three Endicott errors to score five runs on four hits.

Brandeis added on to their run total with four more runs in the fourth inning. Brenner, McCarthy, third baseman Dominic Schwartz '14 and shortstop Brian Allen '15 all had RBI hits in the inning.

Gad, who went 2-5 on the day with two runs and two RBIs, explained that the Judges' change in approach at the plate was the reason for their offensive explosion.

"The approach of the lineup that game at the plate was a lot more aggressive than games prior," Gad said. "I think individually, each batter realized that they did not have to wait for the perfect pitch, but rather a pitch that could produce base runners. We were able to string hits together to produce base runners, and when we do that, it definitely put more pressure on the [Endicott] Gulls and allowed the batters to be able to swing more freely and in a more aggressive manner."

On Tuesday, the Judges lost to Tufts University by a 5-3 margin. The Jumbos got on the board early in that game, taking the 1-0 lead off a first inning solo home run hit by sophomore third baseman Wade Hauser. Tufts added two more runs in the third inning.

The Judges responded in the fourth inning when Brenner hit a two-run home run.

"The [pitcher] was a lefty, so I was down 2-2 and was just seeing the ball well out of his hand and just wanted to put it in play." Brenner said.

Tufts added two more insurance runs in the fifth inning to increase their lead back to three. That was more than enough to beat the Judges, however, as Brandeis could only score one more run in the seventh inning, benefiting from a sacrifice fly by O'Connor.
Starting pitcher Britton took the loss and fell to 2-2 on the year.

The run production all came in support of starting pitcher Mike Swerdloff '13, who pitched seven-and-one-third innings with four strikeouts and four earned runs to improve to 1-3 on the year.

Having fallen yetserday at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth 7-0, the Judges look to improve their record this week, beginning with a home game against Worcester State University today at 3:30 p.m.
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