The Brandeis baseball team has lost two of its three games over the past week of play. On Thursday, the team lost at home to Suffolk University, and on Saturday, the squad split a doubleheader with Salem State University. Here’s the breakdown for each of these contests. 

Vikings 7, Judges 11

Luke Hall ’21 drove in six runs on Saturday to help the Judges overcome two straight losses, including one earlier in the day. Isaac Fossas ’21 helped the Judges strike first, getting the first run in on his sacrifice fly. Hall followed that up with a single to right to score another, putting Brandeis up two after inning 1. In the third inning with a runner-on, shortstop Mike Khoury ’21 knocked in the run with a run-batted-in double. Hall followed this up with two more RBIs of his own, putting the Judges up a commanding 5 early. Salem State attempted to get back in the game, loading the bases with no outs in the bottom of the third. One runner scored on an RBI single, but an overeager Salem State baserunner was gunned down at the plate trying to score on the same play. Following this defensive effort, Cam Roberts ’22 held his ground, retiring the last two batters he faced, limiting Salem to just the one run on the inning. In the fourth, Brandeis added four more runs to their lead, two of them batted in again by Hall. In the bottom half of the fifth, Salem State made some noise with a two-run homer, but Brandeis equaled those runs in the top half of the sixth, including another RBI by Hall. With an 11–3 lead going into the final frame, the Judges were looking to retire the side and go home, but after a little more excitement than they were hoping for, the team ended up victorious by a score of 11–7.

Vikings 11, Judges 4

The first game of the doubleheader was not so pretty for the Judges. Salem State broke the ice by putting up one run in the bottom half of the first. Brandeis responded with a run of its own in the next half inning, but that was the beginning of the end for the Judges. Salem broke open the game in the next half inning, scoring four runs including three unearned off sloppy errors by Brandeis. A Fossas RBI brought the score to 5–2, but the Vikings added two more in the bottom of that inning. Brandeis scored two more runs off of errors from Salem State, but it was not enough, and the team eventually lost 11–4. 

Rams 7, Judges 3

Brandeis scored their three runs early in the contest. Fossas singled home the first run of the game in the bottom half of the first inning. Scott Zeigler ’21 followed this up with an RBI double in the second. Their third run would come on a wild pitch later that inning. Suffolk scored single runs in the third, fifth and sixth innings, two of those coming without a hit in the inning. In the top of the seventh, with the score tied at four, Suffolk broke it open, scoring four runs to put the game out of reach. 

After a successful start to their season, this was a rough week for Brandeis baseball. While their ability to come together as a team is admirable, this week's games proved they still have some kinks to work out. Thursday’s game shows the Judges have had some trouble defending their home turf. Saturday’s split shows that when the Judges are the first to score, it usually pays off, so they should not rely on their opponents to swing first. Catch the Judges next when they take on Springfield on Monday at 3:30 p.m.