Judges 0, Gulls 20

The Brandeis Baseball team couldn’t get on the board against Endicott College this past Tuesday, March 7, giving a majority of their runs in the opening innings. Pitcher Winston Wacha ’25 had his first career start facing 15 batters in the effort. Unfortunately, he and two relievers gave up 17 runs between the first three frames. The Judges kept the Gulls scoreless until the bottom of the eighth inning as Endicott tacked on three more runs to put the nail in the coffin.

The Judges had five hits from their top three batters but were unable to bring in a run. Center fielder Sam Nugent ’23 and right fielder Steven Simon ’23 both had two hits at four at-bats. Second baseman Alex Kim ’26 had a single hit, which rounded up the batting for the game. The Judges moved to a .500 record at 1-1, while the Gulls stayed undefeated at 2-0. 

Judges 3, Jumbos 9

Despite punching in two home runs, the Judges couldn’t come back to overcome a six-run deficit at the top of the ninth inning. Leadoff and captain Nugent started the game strong with a home run toward left field. However the Jumbos tied it up at the bottom of the first inning and gained their lead in the second — 1-3. With the score of 1-4 at the top of the fifth inning, captain Simon went yard for his fifth career home run to make it 2-4 leading into the sixth frame.

The Jumbos again extended their lead by two throughout the next two innings. Brandeis’ last scoring play came from a run batted in by pinch hitter Aidan Schleer ’25 getting his teammate Brian King ’23 home. Following that score, the Judges were unable to get back on the board, and Tufts added three more runs as insurance at the bottom of the eighth. Kim notched two hits with zero runs, and King got on the statistic sheet with one. Pitcher Sean Decker-Jacoby ’24 recorded the loss with 20 batters faced, five hits, five runs, and four strikeouts. The Judges fell to 1-2 with the Jumbos remaining undefeated with a 2-0 record.

Judges 5, Bison 4

In dramatic fashion, catcher Justin Keeler ’25 had a walk-off single to give the Judges a victory over Nichols College. After the cancellation of their first game against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the Trinity College Invitational, the Judges were able to get back in the win column. Kim got on base with a double, and King brought him in with a sacrifice fly at the bottom of the first. However, Nichols got  run-off pitcher Christian Tejada ’23 at the top of the third inning to tie things up. Tejada had a strong start,  leading off the Brandeis pitchers with only one hit and running over four innings. Although the Bisons pulled ahead at the top of the fifth, the Judges retaliated with two more runs —- Kim then hit a triple and scored two to pull ahead 3-2. 

At the top of the eighth inning, Nichols got their first lead of the game — 3-4. Simon got home to even the score at 4-4 and a big ninth-inning defense set things up for Keeler. Pitcher Marc Maestri M.B.A. ’23 struck out two batters, with Keeler throwing out a runner at second to finish off the inning. Pinch hitter Nick Heafey ’24  led off at the top of the ninth with a single. He was able to move to second on a pitching error and stole third. Keeler stepped up to bat and delivered the needed single to provide the Judges their second win of the season. Maestri had the win as the relief pitcher and moved him to 2-0 with one hit, one run, and five strikeouts after facing 10 batters. Kim had a big game, with three hits, two RBIs, and one run-in to help the Judges get on the scoreboard. The Judges moved to 2-2, and Nichols dropped to 1-7. Brandeis will square off against Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Thursday, March 16.