The men's baseball team fought hard all season to rebound from a five game losing streak that started their season in Florida. Winning four of their last five games, including a 9-6 victory over Wheaton College, the Judges finished the regular season a game above .500 and earned a chance to defend their ECAC title. But having battled to a 16-15 finish, the Judges simply had nothing left in the tank for the playoffs. Brandeis closed out the season with an 8-3 loss on May 7 to Nichols College in the ECAC quarterfinals.Tim Dunphy '06 had a rocky start on the mound for the Judges, allowing six earned runs in just over four innings. The Judges went on to use another eight pitchers throughout the game, but could not take advantage of a cold streak by the Bison hitters. Dan McIntosh '04 was the only Brandeis hitter with multiple hits, going 3-5 at the plate with a double. Chris Navis '05 chipped in going 1-1 at the plate with two RBIs. Nichols junior Chris Demers pitched seven innings, allowing only two earned runs.

"[Demers] wasn't throwing particularly fast," Ben Dashefsky '07 said. "He was just hitting all the spots. He made it real hard for our hitters."

The game was scoreless through three innings, but the Bison erupted in the fourth and fifth innings. Each of the first two batters hit singles to set up a two-run double by junior Mike Escolas. Nichols continued the attack in the fifth inning, when three doubles and a single scored four runs and opened a 6-0 lead. Two more runs in the sixth inning had the Judges looking up at an 8-0 deficit.

Navis gave the Judges hope in the seventh inning, with a two-run home run to put the Judges on the scoreboard. It was Navis' first home run of the season. Lars Borssen '04 rode the momentum to a single and was able to advance all the way to third after a single by McIntosh and a hit batter. But Zach Golden '06, normally one of the Judges' most consistent hitters, struck out to leave three on base.

The Judges mounted one last stand in the bottom of the ninth inning. Jeff Krasner '05 and Golden each singled and Krassner later scored on an error. But with two on base, Jeff Bourdon '07 popped out to center field to end the season.

Despite the loss, the Judges could have good days ahead of them. The team is loaded with young talent, led by the very skilled right fielder Dashefsky, recently named the UAA Rookie of the Year. Despite a late-season hitting slump, the freshman phenom has shown great potential. Steve Simolaris '07 started the season on the bench, but went on a tear to end the season with a team best .375 batting average. Golden finished with a team high 20 RBIs and Scott Kuhen finished with a .333 batting average.

The Judges will say goodbye to several seniors, including Russ Stutsky, Jonathan Schwartz, Paul Ramsdell and captain Lars Borssen.

"[Baseball] has obviously been a big part of my life," Borssen said. "It's fun going out there every day with the same group of guys who you treat like brothers, competing with those guys every day.