Baseball: Lasers fall to Brandeis in the battle of Stein Diamond

Waltham, Mass. – In the battle of the teams that call Stein Diamond home, the Lasell University Lasers fell to the Brandeis University Judges, 20-6, Wednesday afternoon.

The Judges scored at the first opportunity, as graduate student Luke Hall (Georgetown, Mass.) hit a sacrifice fly to bring home junior Sam Nugent (Mansfield, Mass.). Brandeis added a second run in the first innings as junior Brian King (Palos Verde, Calif.) doubled home graduate student Mike Khoury (East Bridgewater, Mass.). Following the King double, junior Steven Simon (Hanover, Mass.) brought home King with a double of his own. Graduate student Victor Oppenheimer (West Hills, Calif.) made it four runs in the inning as his single to center field brought home Simon.

Brandeis added more runs in the second inning as King drove in his second with a bases loaded walk that brought home Nugent. Simon singled to third base to bring home Khoury and add a second run to their total in the second inning. A Lasell error allowed another run to come in for Brandeis as graduate student Dan Frey (Ipswich, Mass.) came home to score. Sophomore Mike DiCenso (Cranston, R.I.) brought home King with a sacrifice fly to make it an eight-run lead after two.

Lasell answered back in the top of the third inning as sophomore CJ Mills (Waltham, Mass.) singled to right field to bring home freshman Vaun Larisa (Lincoln, R.I.). Graduate Student Mack Palmer (West Windsor, N.J.) stole third and then scored as the throw from the catcher got away. Lasell made it a three-run third inning as sophomore Ross Audet (Swansea, Mass.) hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Mills.

Khoury added another in the third inning as his RBI single to center field brought home Nugent.

The Judges added one more in the fourth inning as Simon homered to left center to make it 10-3. Nugent was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded which brought home Oppenheimer and make it an eight-run Brandeis lead.

The Lasers clawed one back in the top half of the fifth as senior Matthew Bischof (Sleepy Hallow, N.Y.) reached on an error by the second baseman and drove in Audet for the RBI.

The Judges blew the game open in the sixth inning, starting off with an RBI single by senior Liam Kennedy (Norwell, Mass.). Khoury drove in a run as he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Hall drove in a run on a fielder's choice. Frey homered with two men on to close out a six-run inning for the Judges.

Lasell clawed one back in the top of the seventh as freshman Tyler DiNezza (Cranston, R.I.) hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring home sophomore Scott Peterson (Plymouth, Mass.).

Khoury added three more to the Judges total as he hit a three-run homerun to right center.

The Lasers scored one more in the eighth as freshman Jake Cook (Derby, Conn.) hit a sacrifice fly to right field that brought in sophomore Peter German (Lawrence, Mass.) but it was not enough as the Lasers fall 20-6.

Junior Reid Latham (North Easton, Mass.) got the win in one and two thirds' innings of relief, giving up two hits and striking out one. Khoury led the way with two hits, three runs scored and five RBIs. Simon had three hits and three RBIs and Frey also knocked in three. Oppenheimer and DiCenso both had four hits. Hall and King both knocked in two runs in the win for Brandeis.

Freshman Jordan Martinez (Naples, Fla.) and Larisa both had two hits apiece. Mills and Audet both scored a run, recorded a hit, and drove in a run. Bischof, Cook, and DiNezza also knocked in a run for the Lasers.

The Lasers will be back in action on Thursday, April 14, when they play host to Suffolk University in a non-conference matchup. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.