April 23, 2009
Box Score
WALTHAM, MA - Brandeis University sophomore right-hander Pat Nicholson (East Walpole, MA) tossed his team-leading third complete game of the season and the Judges' 4-5-6 hitters went 9-for-13 with a home run, three RBI and five runs scored to defeat the visiting University of Massachusetts Boston baseball team, 9-2, on Stein Diamond today. Brandeis moves to 14-19 overall, while UMB falls to 13-18.
Nicholson improved to 5-4 on the season by scattering seven hits over nine innings of work. He struck out six and did not walk a batter, allowing just one earned run. Nicholson snapped a personal three-game losing streak, but it was the third-straight game that he worked into the ninth inning.
Offensively, the trio of junior first baseman Drake Livada (Cape Elizabeth, ME), sophomore third baseman Tony Deshler (Pepperell, MA) and junior second baseman John O'Brion (Portland, ME) were the stars. Livada, the clean-up hitter, recorded his fourth-straight game with at least three hits, going 4-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored. His RBI in the first inning tied the game at 1-1 after UMass Boston had opened the frame with a home run in the first off the bat of sophomore second baseman Ryan Walsh (Newton, MA). Livada, the reigning UAA Co-Player of the Week, has 15 in last 22 at-bats (.682), raising his season average from .290 to .365.
Deshler went 2-4 with a run scored out of the five-hole, while O'Brion was 3-for-4 with three runs scored, an RBI and a solo home run. His round-tripper leading off the second gave Brandeis a 2-1 lead. It was O'Brion's third of the season, tying him for the team lead in homers and extra-base hits with nine.
After UMass Boston tied the game in the top of the third, the Judges scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the frame on an error in the outfield that allowed rookie shortstop Joe Correia (Belleville, NJ) to score from second on a Livada single. They added two more runs in the fourth on RBI ground-outs, and blew it open with four in the seventh, with the big blow a two-run single by senior DH Mike Alfego (Shrewsbury, MA).
The Beacons were paced by Walsh, who was 2-3 on the day. Junior left fielder Drew Tambling (Streling, MA) also had two hits on the afternoon, while rookie right fielder Ty Buccetti (Wallingford, CT) had the team's only other extra-base hit, a fifth-inning double. Sophomore Frank Yarovosky (Phillipston, MA) suffered the loss on the hill, lasting four innings and giving up six hits, five runs (three earned). He struck out one and hit a batter.
The Judges are back in action tomorrow at 3 p.m. against Endicott College. UMass Boston heads to Gorham, ME to take on top-ranked University of Southern Maine at the same time for a Little East Conference game.
