Box Score WALTHAM, Mass. – Brandeis University baseball junior Liam Coughlin (Townsend, Mass./Lowell Catholic) tossed a five-hit shutout over seven innings today as the Judges defeated UMass Dartmouth, 4-0, in their regular-season finale. The game was called in the top of the eighth because of a torrential downpour.
The Judges close their regular season with a 19-16-1 record, and await a possible ECAC Tournament berth on Monday. UMass Dartmouth falls to 16-19 and faces Keene State on the road in their Little East Conference finale on Friday.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Brandeis got all the scoring they would need in the top of the first on just one hit.
- Senior CF Liam O'Connor (Avon, Conn./Avon) walked to lead off the inning and moved to second on a hit-and-run ground-out by rookie 2B Benjamin Bavly (Newton, Mass./Newton South).
- Two batters later, senior RF Ryan Healy (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) singled to right field, scoring O'Connor from second. Healy was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.
- Brandeis got some breathing room in the bottom of the fourth, stringing together three singles and taking advantage of a couple of UMD errors in the outfield.
- Healy and sophomore 3B Luke Zeccola (Garden City, N.J./Chaminade) singled to start the frame, with both moving into scoring position on an overthrow on Zeccola's hit.
- Senior catcher Connor Doyle (Avon, Conn./Avon Old Farms) knocked in Healy, and Zeccola came home when the ball the ball went through the left-fielder's legs.
- Doyle moved to third on a fly-out by grad student DH Rob Trenk (West Orange, N.J./West Orange) and scored on a single by junior SS Jay Schaff (Cheshire, Conn./Xavier).
- Coughlin and the Brandeis defense were in control. The Judges retired the side in order in five of the seven UMass Dartmouth innings, including a pair of double plays.
- Schaff started a 6-3 twin-killing to end the third, and a line-out to center in the sixth erased a Taylor Cacciola (West Greenwich, R.I. / Exeter-W. Greenwich) double after he took off for third and didn't get back in time.
- The Corsairs stranded two runners in the fourth and fifth innings, wasting a Connor Shaw (Goffstown, N.H. / Goffstown) leadoff double in the fourth and a pair of singles in the fifth.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Coughlin improved to 4-1 on the season with his first career shutout and second career complete game.
- Coughlin allowed five hits in seven innings of work, striking out three and walking two. He faced just five batters over the minimum.
- It was Brandeis's first complete-game shutout since February 20, 2015.
- UMass Dartmouth's Steve Collela (Leominster, Mass. / Leominster) suffered the loss to fall to 3-4.
- Collela gave up eight hits and four runs, only two of which were earned. He fanned three and walked one.
- Offensively, Healy and Schaff each had two hits for the Judges, while 2B Josh O'Neill (Halifax, Mass. / Silver Lake Regional) had two for the Corsairs.
- Brandeis's Liam O'Connor saw a 14-game hitting streak snapped, going 0-2 with a walk and a run scored. It was only the sixth time all season he was held hitless.
- Doyle's RBI was his 27th of the season, tying him for the team lead.
THE JUDGES' SEASON
- Under first-year head coach Derek Carlson '91, the Judges posted their first winning season since 2011.
- They won 11 of their final 12 regular season games and finished with a 10-2 record at home on Stein Diamond.
- The 19 wins are the most since the team went 24-19 in 2011, their last postseason berth.
- They will hope for a return to the ECAC Division III New England championship. The field will be announced on Monday afternoon.
