NORTH DARTMOUTH – Brandeis University senior Anthony Nomakeo (Westfield, Mass./Northfield Mount Hermon) ended his career with a bang today, going 3-for-5 with two home runs and seven RBI as the Judges closed out their 2017 campaign with a 10-4 win at UMass Dartmouth.
Nomakeo had never homered in college and had driven in just three runs all season entering the contest. He is the first Judge to launch two bombs in a contest since 2012 (Sean O’Hare ’12) and just the fourth to do so since 2005. His seven RBIs are the most by any Brandeis player since that year, with a handful of Judges driving in five in a game, with the most recent instance coming in 2011 (Eric Rosenberg ’11).
With Brandeis (6-21) leading 2-1 in the fifth inning, the first two batters reached before Nomakeo launched a blast to left field to make it a 5-1 game. UMD got two of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth to cut the deficit to 5-3.
ANTHONY NOMAKEO
Two UMass Dartmouth errors in the top of the sixth opened the floodgates for three more Brandeis runs. Rookie Tim Lopez (Brooklyn, N.Y./East Side Community) drove in the first run on a fielder’s choice, and after a hit batter and a double steal, Nomakeo came through with a single up the middle for RBIs four and five on the day to make it 8-3.
The Corsairs’ Zach Courier got in on the act with a homer to lead off the seventh inning, but Nomakeo capped his day at the plate with a two-run blast to left in the eighth inning. His day wasn’t done, however, as Nomakeo went from first base to the mound to pitch the ninth inning. He retired three of the four hitters he faced to secure the win for junior Sean O’Neill (Reading, Mass./Reading Memorial).
In addition to Nomakeo’s big day at the plate, the Judges finished with 13 hits, their second-highest total of the season. Senior CF Ryan Tettemer (Westfield, Mass./Suffield Acad.) had three hits in his final contest, while rookie RF Dan O’Leary (Lynnfield, Mass./Lynnfield) was 2-4 with three runs scored. Rookie catcher Brian Shaw (Conway, Mass. / Northfield Mount Hermon) also had two hits on the day, while Lopez, Nomakeo and senior SS Jay Schaff (Cheshire, Conn./Xavier) each scored two runs.
O’Neill improved to 3-4 on the season for the Judges with eight innings of eight-hit ball, allowing four runs (two earned). He struck out six and did not walk a batter, though he hit two Corsairs with pitches. UMass Dartmouth (21-17) saw Mac Curran suffer the loss, giving up 10 hits and five earned runs in five innings of work to fall to 1-3.
TETTEMER CLAIMS UAA HITTER OF THE WEEK HONORS: Tettemer was named University Athletic Association Hitter of the Week for the week ending April 30.
Tettemer went 6-for-12 in three games out of the leadoff hole for the Judges last week as the Judges went 1-2. He drove in two runs and scored two more while stealing two bases.
RYAN TETTEMER
In a 4-1 win at Western New England University on April 27, Tettemer went 3-5 with the game-winning hit, a two-run triple in the top of the ninth inning on which he scored on an error. He was 2-3 with a double in a 9-0 loss at Trinity College on April 28, and on April 30, he led off the game with a double, stole third and scored on a groundout for Brandeis’s lone run in a 2-1 loss at Rhode Island College.
Tettemer entered his final collegiate game leading the Judges with 13 RBI and ranked second in batting average (.291), extra-base hits (6) and slugging percentage (.407). Overall for his career, Tettemer is a .275 hitter with 39 RBI and seven home runs.
Tettemer is a 2013 – Courtesy of Brandeis University
