The baseball team responded to a four-game losing streak this past week with a sweep of their home-opening doubleheader on Sunday and a tight 4-3 victory over the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on Monday afternoon. Brandeis, in losing midweek games to Rhode Island College, Endicott College and Tufts University, stumbled before ultimately reeling off the two key victories. The Judges' record now sits at 9-12 overall.

Designated hitter Tom McCarthy '15 lashed out an RBI single to right field to stake the Judges to a 2-0 lead on Monday. Starting pitcher Elio Fernandez '15 and UMass Dartmouth sophomore starting pitcher Matt Russell then were locked into a pitching duel until the seventh inning. UMass Dartmouth sophomore catcher Mariano Suriel broke through with a two-RBI double to tie the game at 2-2. After Brandeis and UMass Dartmouth traded runs, third baseman Greg Heineman '16 laced a game-winning RBI single to right field to seal the 4-3 win.

Meanwhile, with runners at first and second in the bottom of the 10th inning on Sunday, infielder Rob Trenk '15 initiated the late-game heroics with a ball up the middle. Although the Rams were able to keep the ball on the infield and record an out at second, they could not convert the double play and allowed second basemen Dominic Schwartz '15 to score the game-winning run after a throwing error.

Designated hitter McCarthy brought in a pair of runs with a fifth inning double while pitcher James Machado '16 picked up the win with a scoreless 10th inning. The Judges put up runs in every inning from the fifth through eighth to climb out of 3-0, 4-3 and 5-4 deficits before Trenk sent the team home with a win.

First baseman Kyle Brenner '15, who pitched the opener, attributed the win to timely hitting.

"Game two was the same situation [as the first]-we fell down early and then came back and we hit when we needed to," he said.

Although the team managed only one hit in the first game, it was enough for Brenner, who scattered five hits in seven innings, allowing one run and striking out seven batters. The two teams then traded runs in the third inning. Framingham State sophomore infielder Mark Mainini singled home a run for the Rams before right fielder Ryan Tettemer '17 scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 1-1. McCarthy's sixth-inning single gave the Judges a 2-1 lead before third baseman Heineman stole home to give the Judges an insurance run and the 3-1 decision.

Brenner said he had a calm approach on the mound, relying on his defense to remain in the game until the offense came through with a hit.

"[I] knew they were going to be swinging so I figured I'd just throw strikes and let the defense do what they need to do," he said. "We had one timely hit when we needed it so we came back with the win."

The team stumbled earlier in the week with three games in three days, suffering a 3-2 loss to RIC on Thursday, a 10-4 loss to Endicott on Wednesday and a 2-1 loss to Tufts last Tuesday.

Starting pitcher Colin Markel '14 took the hard-luck loss to RIC, giving up three runs on eight hits and striking out seven while walking just one batter. The Judges generated offense from the top of their lineup as the first through fourth batters all recorded a hit, and scored both runs.

Center fielder Liam O'Connor '16 powered the Judges' offense in the loss to Endicott, going three-for-four with two RBIs. Starting pitcher Brian Ing '14 picked up the loss, allowing four runs over 1.2 innings of work.

On Tuesday, the team could not climb out of a 2-0 hole against Tufts. Brenner pitched a complete game and struck out four batters. O'Connor scored on a single in the eighth inning but it was not enough to beat Tufts

"We left eight guys on base," Brenner explained. "The hits were there, we just couldn't manufacture [runs]. But in terms of the defense, they weren't hitting the ball hard and the ones that they did hit hard we made the play."

The team plays at Worcester State University tomorrow afternoon before welcoming Western New England State University and Bridgewater State University on Thursday and Friday respectively.

-Elan Kane contributed reporting.