ATLANTA, Ga. – The Brandeis University baseball team didn't go down without a fight, scoring 11 runs in the late innings against host Emory University, but the Judges' holes were too deep to climb out of as they dropped a pair to the Eagles, 11-9 and 14-7, in University Athletic Association action today.
TEAM RECORDS
- Brandeis: 5-30, 0-15 UAA.
- Emory: 23-14-1, 9-5-1 UAA.
HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME 1 (Emory 11, Brandeis 9)
- The teams traded four-run innings in the first. In the top of the frame, grad student 3B Brian King (Palos Verde, Calif./Palos Verde) had an RBI single, while first-year 2B Dylan Walsh (Arlington, Mass./Arlington) plated two with a hit, while an error on the play allowed the third run to score.
- Emory responded in the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice fly and a three-run home run by 1B Nick Wilson.
- The Eagles kept Brandeis in check over the next seven innings, taking the lead with an unearned run in the third and a four-run fourth that made it 9-4. They added two more in the fifth, including a successful double-steal of home to go ahead, 11-4.
- After not getting a runner to second base after the first inning, Brandeis broke out in a big way in the top of the ninth. The first three batters reached safely, including an RBI double by sophomore pinch hitter Jordan Greenaway (Clifton, N.J./Morristown Beard School).
- First-year SS Matt Chafin (Canton, Mass./Canton) hit a sacrifice fly to make it 11-6, and after a balk, the Eagles traded an out for a base-runner advancing to third.
- Judge sophomore DH Alex Kim (Basking Ridge, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) singled to short to drive in another run, followed by an Emory error that extended the inning. That allowed grad student Eddie Zanor (Branford, Conn./Notre Dame-West Haven) and first-year Henry Aronwald (Rye Brook, N,Y./Trinity Pawling) to deliver RBI singles, getting the Judges within 11-9 with the tying run in scoring position, but Emory closer Bennett Speicher got a strikeout with the bases loaded to end the game and pick up his fourth save of the season.
- Hits in the opener were close, 11-10 in favor of Emory, but Brandeis committed five errors compared to two for the Eagles. Emory also had four extra-base hits to one for Brandeis.
- Brandeis's 10 hits were scattered among nine players, with Walsh's 2-3 performance with two RBI the only multi-hit game for the Judges.
- Brandeis senior Sean Decker-Jacoby (Los Angeles, Calif./Vistimar) suffered the loss on the hill, falling to 1-7. He allowed eight hits and nine runs (eight earned) with three walks, one strikeout and one hit batter. First-year Dimitri Skourides (Arlington, Mass./Winchendon School) was effective in 4.1 innings of relief, giving up just three hits and two unearned runs. He walked three and struck out three.
- Emory's Josh Zuckerman improved to 5-1 on the campaign with five innings of four-hit pitching. He allowed four runs (three earned) with four walks and six strikeouts.
HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME 2 (Emory 14, Brandeis 7)
- Emory shortstop got the hosts off to a fast start, driving in two runs with a double in the first inning and three more with a triple in the third.
- Brandeis's Zanor had an RBI three-bagger of his own in the fourth to get the Judges on the board, cutting the deficit to 5-1.
- Emory blew things open with a seven-run fifth inning against three different Brandeis pitchers.
- Faced with the game ending in the seventh due to the UAA's 10-run rule, the Judges responded with a four-run frame. Kim delivered a two-run single, while grad student Jake Freed (Vernon Hills, Ill./Stevenson) delivered a two-run home run, his fourth of the season and the sixth of his career.
- Senior shortstop Nick Heafey (Florence, Mass./Northampton-Williston School) had an RBI single in the eighth to get Brandeis within 12-6. Emory added two insurance runs in the bottom of the inning, and the Eagles traded a run for a double play in the ninth to close out the scoring, 14-7.
- Kim and Freed each went 2-4 with two RBI and two runs scored for the Judges. Freed had a double and a home run for two of the team's four extra-base hits, along with Zanor's triple and a double by first-year Connor Crowley (Guilford, Conn./Notre Dame-West Haven).
- Emory's Conley was the top hitter in the game, going 3-3 with two doubles, a triple, two runs scored and five RBI
- Brandeis starter Andrew Tringe (Montpelier, Vt./Montpelier) took the loss on the hill, falling to 0-8. Emory's Ryan Reynolds picked up the win to move to 4-2.
UP NEXT
- The Judges and Eagles will wrap up the series tomorrow at 11 a.m.