From Brandeis University Athletics/Trinity College Athletics
Senior Ryan Healy (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) went 3-for-6 with a double, a home run, three runs, and three RBI, while classmate Liam O'Connor (Avon, Conn./Avon) had three doubles as part of a four-hit performance that extended his hitting streak to 14 games as the visiting Brandeis University Judges to a 16-4 victory over the Trinity College Bantams in baseball action this afternoon.
The win is Brandeis's 10th in the last 11 games and improves their record to 18-16-1. The Judges clinched their first winning regular season since 2011. They will meet UMass Dartmouth in their regular-season finale on Wednesday, then hope for their first post-season berth since that '11 season the following Monday.
Trinity drops to 15-16 with its second loss in a row. The squads were originally slated to play a double-header, but rain forced them into a single nine-inning game.
Brandeis scored nine runs in the first two innings, as O'Connor and rookie 2B Benjamin Bavly (Newton, Mass./Newton South) started the game with back-to-back doubles to get things started. Trailing, 4-0, before its first turn at bat, Trinity got one run back in the bottom of the first inning when junior OF Nick Pezzella (Worcester, Mass.) singled, stole second, and scored on a Judge error. Brandeis scored twice more in the top of the third stanza on an RBI triple by junior SS Jay Schaff (Cheshire, Conn./Xavier) and another O'Connor double, but Trinity cut its deficit to 11-4 with three runs in the bottom of the inning including two on a double by sophomore OF Brendan Pierce (Hingham, Mass.).
The Judges kept adding to their lead, scoring twice in the fourth inning, once on a solo homer by Healy in the fifth, and twice in the seventh frame. Brandeis senior RHP Sam Miller (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury) and freshman submariner Daniel Schupper (Villanova, Pa./Harriton) held Trinity off the board for the final six innings, as Miller improved to 6-5 with nine hits and one earned run allowed and seven strikeouts with one walk over seven innings. Bantam sophomore Anthony Egeln (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) lost for the first time this spring, lasting two-plus innings and allowing nine hits and as many earned runs to fall to 4-1. Senior Rick Spencer (Madison, Conn.) and freshman Sam Warren (Scarborough, Maine) kept the Judges off the board for their final seven outs.
O'Connor was 4-for-5 at the plate and walked once with two runs and two RBI, while Bavly, Max Hart (Montville, Conn./Montville), and Luke Zeccola(Garden City, N.Y./Chaminade) all added two hits for Brandeis.
Trinity junior SS Nick DiBenedetto (Fort Myers, Fla.) finished 3-for-4 with two doubles, while Pierce also doubled twice, and Pezzella and freshman John Stamatis (Ridgefield, Conn.) had two hits apiece for the Bantams.