ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Brandeis University baseball team dropped a pair of contests to open a four-game University Athletic Association series at Washington University in St. Louis today, 10-4 and 9-2.
TEAM RECORDS
- Brandeis: 10-22, 2-12 UAA.
- WashU: 20-13, 6-8 UAA.
HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME 1 (Washington U., 10, Brandeis 4)
- The Bears jumped out to a 9-0 lead after seven innings. They were paced by centerfielder Brandon Buday, their leadoff hitter, who hit for the cycle.
- Buday tripled and scored the team's first run in the first, doubled to drive in two runs in the second and hit a solo home run in the fourth inning to get the most difficult parts of the feat out of the way.
- He finished the cycle with a single in the bottom of the sixth, scoring on a home run by Noah Reichman that put the Bears ahead, 8-0. Buday finished the day going 5-5 with three RBI and four runs scored.
- WashU added a ninth run in the seventh before Brandeis spoiled the shutout bid. Held to just three hits over the first seven frames, sophomore LF Henry Aronwald (Rye Brook, N.Y./Trinity Pawling) doubled to lead off the inning and scored on a two-bagger by rookie DH Danny Tambascia (Newton, Mass./Newton North).
- The Judges added three more runs in the top of the ninth on four hits, including an RBI double by sophomore CF Connor Crowley (Guilford, Conn./Notre Dame-West Haven) and an RBI single by grad student RF Jake Freed (Vernon Hills, Ill./Stevenson), but it wasn't enough.
- Brandeis grad student Chris Lowe (Chatham, N.J./Oratory Prep) shouldered the loss, falling to 2-2 on the season. He threw six innings, allowing 10 hits and eight earned runs, walking one and striking out four. He also hit two batters.
- WashU's Hank Weiss improved to 3-2 on the mound with six innings of two-hit pitching. He walked two and struck out 11 of the 18 batters he retired, though he did hit five batters.
HOW IT HAPPENED, GAME 2 (WashU 9, Brandeis 2)
- Game two was a pitcher's duel between Brandeis sophomore Andrew Tringe (Montpelier, Vt./Montpelier) and WashU sophomore Townsend Stevenson through the first five innings.
- The teams were limited to three hits each over the first five frames, with only one runner making it past first base.
- Brandeis broke through in the top of the sixth against Stevenson. Crowley led off with a bunt single to third base. He stole second and moved to third on a single by first-year 3B Ben Kuja (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand). Grad student Eddie Zanor (Branford, Conn./Notre Dame-West Haven) walked to load the bases with none out.
- Junior Miles Quemuel-Labrador came on in relief and minimized the damage. He struck out the first batter he faced. Freed then grounded to first, plating a run, but making the second out. A grounder to second got WashU out of trouble.
- The Bears responded with a pair of singles, the latter on a hit-and-run that put runners on the corners. The hosts tied things up thanks to a wild pitch, and Reichman singled up the middle to put them on top. Tringe was able to get the next three outs to keep it a one-run game.
- WashU pulled away with four runs in the seventh and three more in eighth, while Brandeis's second run came on an infield groundout after loading the bases on two walks and a hit batter.
- Tringe took the loss for Brandeis, falling to 1-1 on the season, after throwing six innings. He gave up five runs on eight hits, striking out four and walking two.
- Quemuel-Labrador earned the relief win to improve to 4-0 on the campaign. He allowed just one hit and one run in two innings of work, striking out four in relief of Stevenson, who gave up three hits and one run in his five frames. Stevenson walked three and struck out seven.
UP NEXT
- The teams are scheduled to meet again tomorrow at 1 p.m., but inclement weather in the forecast is expected to affect the start time.