The Justice

Media Credit: Photos courtesy of SportsPix Second baseman Melisa Cagar '11 runs towards first base after hitting the ball in a win over Smith College April 21. The Judges had won 23 games in a row before last Thursday's loss to Framingham State College.

Outfielder Tony Deshler '11 prepares for a pitch during the baseball team's 9-0 win over the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth April 21. The victory was the 600th of coach Pete Varney's Brandeis career.

No. 2 Trinity College entered its doubleheader against the baseball team last Sunday at 30-0, on track for the first undefeated season in college baseball. Despite a complete game effort from Brandeis starter Craig Letendre '08 in the first game and a late-inning Judges' offensive rally in the second game, the Bantams stayed the course.

Brandeis dropped both games of the doubleheader 1-0 and 7-4, as Trinity improved to 32-0 on the season. The Judges fell to 17-16 and had their three-game winning streak snapped after defeating Endicott College 5-2 last Friday, Roger Williams University 8-4 last Thursday, and the University of Massachusetts at Boston 20-6 last Wednesday.

In the first game last Sunday, Brandeis and Trinity were both scoreless through the top of the fifth inning. Trinity senior pitcher Chandler Barnard hadn't surrendered any Brandeis hits, and Letendre had just allowed one during that stretch.

"It was pretty competitive. [Barnard] set the tone in the [top of] the first inning with a 1-2-3 inning. He was hitting his spots and throwing well, so I had to battle back and do the same as him. It kind of kept going back-and-forth," Letendre said.

Letendre blinked first, however, as sophomore right fielder James Wood, leading off the bottom of the fifth inning, crushed a 3-1 pitch to right center field to give Trinity the 1-0 lead. It was one of the few times Letendre fell behind in the count throughout the afternoon.

"I was trying to get a strike in there. I kind of left it right down the middle, and [Wood] took advantage of it," Letendre said.

It was Letendre's only major blemish of the game. He limited the Bantams to only two hits in six innings of work. He also walked two and hit a batter.

"[Letendre] pitched an unbelievable game, and we couldn't help him out [offensively]," reliever Brandon Pick said. "He pounded the strike zone, he threw a great breaking ball, [mixed it] up well with his fastball and kept hitters off balance the whole game."

Barnard was near-perfect for Trinity, going seven innings with eight strikeouts. Designated hitter Pat Nicholson '11 was the only Brandeis player to get a hit off Barnard, with an infield single in the bottom of the fifth inning with two outs. Barnard sent the Judges down in order in his other six innings of work.

"[Barnard] brought his best stuff. He was able to hit most of his spots; he mixed up the count real well," Nicholson said. "He threw a real good slider and curve ball to go along with a pretty good fastball."

In the second game the Judges fell behind 7-0 by the second inning, as starter James Collins '09 lasted only 1 and 2/3 innings. Brandeis scored three runs in the fifth inning and one in the sixth, but the Judges were never able to get any closer, falling 7-4.

In the top of the fifth inning, third baseman James Likis '10 singled home shortstop Malcolm Cone-Coleman '08 and pinch runner Pat Mathews '08 scored on an error. First baseman Drake Livada '10 hit a sacrifice fly to right field, which allowed Likis to score from third, cutting the Trinity lead to 7-3.

Likis walked with the bases loaded, which brought right fielder David Almeida '09 home with two outs in the top of sixth inning. Livada came to the plate as the potential go-ahead run, but struck out to end the Brandeis threat. The Judges went down in order in the top of the seventh inning.

Assistant Coach Bryan Lambert '05 felt the difference in the second game was each team's performance with the bases loaded.

Trinity took advantage of its opportunity in the bottom of the second inning, scoring three runs, while Brandeis was only able to muster one run in the top of the sixth inning.

Head Coach Pete Varney picked up his 600th career win as a coach in Division III baseball, with a 6-0 home win over the UMass Dartmouth April 21. He became only the 28th coach to reach this plateau.

"Not only was [Varney] a great coach for a player, but he's a great coach for an assistant coach. I learn stuff everyday. He's been around the game so much [that it's] almost to the point now where he's probably forgotten more about baseball than I know," said Lambert, who also played under Varney from 2000 to 2005.

The Judges conclude regular season play this week with a makeup home game against Albertus Mangus College Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. and a doubleheader against Suffolk University Saturday at home starting at 1 p.m.

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