The Brandeis baseball team continues to push forward despite the challenges they face trying to improve upon the season that they have been having thus far. Their efforts prevailed, as the team managed to break their 14 game losing streak with a victory over University Athletic Association rival, the New York University Violets during their second game on Saturday. The Judges record for the season changed to 3-21 and 1-11 in the UAA.

Judges 8, NYU 9

In the final game of the weekend, and their senior game, the Judges fell one last time to the Violets. NYU scored five out of their nine runs in the first inning. It took until the second inning for the Judges to pull off two runs from infielder Victor Oppenheimer ’20 and utility player Tommy Sand ’21. In the fourth inning, the Violets increased their lead to 8-2, and it was not until the seventh inning that Oppenheimer and outfielder Dan Frey ’21 hit back-to-back doubles,  third-baseman Mike Khoury ’21 hit a single to bring home Frey and outfielder Dan O’Leary ’20 brought everyone home with a home run. In the rest of the game, the Judges were able to score two more times, but were not able to take over the Violets. 

Judges 7, NYU 5

Thanks to hard work from the entire team, the Judges were able to break their 14-game losing streak during their second game on Saturday against the Violets. The Violets started strong at the top of the first, making the score 1-0 in the first inning. In the third inning, the Judges pulled ahead when Sand scored his first career home run, following a double by Oppenheimer which would bring Sand home. This was a the turning point for the Judges who were now ahead 3-1, and although the Violets responded to tie the score the Judges created a 6-3 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning and would eventually win 7-5.

Judges 2, NYU 18

On the first game of Saturday, the Judges faced a severe loss against the Violets; the game only lasted seven innings. The Violets busted out of the gates with five runs in the top of the first. They then scored two runs in the top of the second inning and five more in the top of the third. This 12-0 deficit was too much to overcome, and the team would go on to lose 18-2. 

Judges 7, NYU 12

On Friday, the Judges suffered another loss against the Violets. Colman Hendershot of NYU played the game of his life, going 4-5 with a double and three home runs, with seven RBIs. In the bottom of the first, the Judges got two runs, with second-baseman Tommy Sand ’21 scoring on a single made by designated hitter Scott Ziegler ’21 and then Zielger on a sac fly from Frey. The Judges would eventually fall behind 10-2, and a four run rally was not enough to take the game. 

In an email with the Justice, pitcher Brandon Musto spoke to the goals and hard work the team has been putting into the season. Musto said that the main goal is to win as many games as possible. “We have a very young team this year, but we believe that we can be better than last year and hopefully win more games,” he said.

Although the team has not seen the results that they had wanted this season, Musto adds that players are putting in extra time and work on the side to improve team outcomes. “We just need all of the pieces to come together and we’ll be able to click as a team.” 

Hopefully, the Judges can make all of the pieces fit and end this season strong. Continued hard work and dedication on the part of the players will help to make this season as strong as possible and improve going into the 2019 season.