Judges knock off No. 1 team in New England, WNEC, 13-7
WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University baseball team
scored eight unanswered runs today as the Judges, ranked No. 7 in
the most recent New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association
(NEIBA) poll defeated top-ranked Western New England College, 13-7,
on Stein Diamond.
Brandeis (14-7-1) was paced by rookie right fielder Mike Alfego
(Shrewsbury, Mass.), who went 3-5 with three RBI, two runs scored,
a double and a stolen base. He knocked home the game-winning run in
the Judges' five-run fifth inning with a bases-loaded double that
turned a 7-6 deficit into an 8-7 lead. Senior shortstop Zach Golden
(Milton, Mass.) went 4-4 at the plate with an RBI and three runs
scored, while junior DH Jon Winston (Nanuet, N.Y.) also crossed the
plate three times, including a two-run home run in the sixth
inning. It was his team-leading fifth of the season.
WNEC (21-7) saw its five-game winning streak snapped as the Golden
Bears lost for just the second time on the road this season. Junior
3B Josh Jacobs (Essex Junction, Vt.) swung the big bat for the
visitors, going 2-3 with three RBI. His three-run home run in the
second inning erased a 4-2 Brandeis lead. Four other Western New
England players had two-hit games, as rookie RF Chris Newell
(Wallingford, Conn.) went 2-4 with a double and run scored out of
the leadoff slot and junior catcher Steve Hanjack (Enfield, Conn.)
reached base in all four plate appearances, going 2-2 with a pair
of walks and two runs scored.
Brandeis got a complete-game effort from senior Tim Dunphy
(Cambridge, Mass.), the third-straight outing that he has gone the
distance. Dunphy improved to 6-2 on the season with eight
strikeouts and five walks. He gave up a season-high seven runs
(five earned), but worked out of trouble, leaving the bases loaded
in the fourth and ending two innings with ground-ball double plays.
After a 15-minute weather delay in the fifth inning, Dunphy settled
down and retired 13 of the last 15 WNEC batters.
Junior Mike Richardson (Hanover, Mass.) suffered the loss for the
Golden Bears, allowing nine runs (six earned) in four innings of
work. He gave up seven hits, struck out two, walked two and hit a
batter to fall to 2-1 on the season. The 13 runs the visitors
allowed was the most all season and it marks just their second road
loss of the campaign.
Brandeis next plays host to Bridgewater State College tomorrow at
3:30 p.m., while WNEC takes on Rivier College in a GNAC twin-bill
Saturday at noon.
