The NYU baseball team’s five game win streak came to an abrupt halt this weekend following a three game sweep by Brandeis University. The tough series — their first on the road since the UAA Championship in Florida at the beginning of March — pushed their record on the season to 12-16.

In Saturday’s first game, the Violets took a 7-3 loss. Sophomore starter Chase Denison gave up five earned runs on eight hits over three innings, taking his first loss of the season. It was a rocky outing for the pitcher who had put together back to back quality starts coming into the game — Denison had surrendered just one run over his last 14.2 innings, hurling seven shutout innings against City College of New York in his last start.

Junior outfielder Adrian Spitz and sophomore infielders Jake Smith and Jonathan Iaione each notched an RBI but were unable to overcome the damage done by Brandeis’s bats. Still, the Violets made contact all day long, only striking out once while walking twice — both times with Walter at the plate. Ultimately, it was too little too late, with the Violets dropping game one 7-3.

“Our bats looked good this weekend,” Spitz said. “Unfortunately it was not enough to pull out a win.”

Colman Hendershot took the mound in game two of the doubleheader, allowing five earned runs on seven hits across two innings. NYU tried to rally in the top of the fifth by taking advantage of an error made by Brandeis, but only managed to get one run across the board. Sophomore catcher Scott Hilbrandt doubled in a run, but the team was unable to score again, taking the loss 6-2. Freshman Eli Edwards pitched three scoreless innings of relief.

“After a six game winning streak it was really discounting to see us lose three in a row,” Edwards said.

Senior catcher CJ Picerni notched three hits between the two Saturday games. Picerni, who has struggled to get things going this season, had an encouraging series overall, going 6 for 12 over the three games and bumping his batting average up to .245, the highest it has been this season.

After the tough Saturday games, Sunday’s 11-9 loss was a heartbreaker for the Violets. Sophomore pitcher Cameron Serapilio-Frank gave up four earned runs on nine hits in four innings of work. The Violets put up a whopping 17 hits, Hendershot leading the way with four hits and four RBIs. Smith and Picerni each tallied three hits as well.

After going back and forth with Brandeis the whole game, the Violets took a 9-8 lead in the seventh inning as Walter and Iaione scored on an error by Brandeis. But the good fortune wouldn’t last, as freshman pitcher Paul Gadaleta gave up an RBI double following a two run homer, putting Brandeis up 11-9 for good. It was a rare tough outing for Gadaleta, who had only surrendered one run in 10 innings coming into Sunday’s tilt.

Coach Doug Kimbler didn’t mince words when breaking down the tough weekend, voicing his disappointment in the team’s performance.

“It was a tough weekend on paper and we had leads six or seven times this weekend and nothing to show for it,” Kimbler said. “Being young is not an excuse anymore and we have to execute in key moments of games.”

The Violets take on St. Joseph’s College in a doubleheader at home next Thursday, with game one slated to begin at 12 p.m.

Additional reporting by Ashley Arnold. A version of this article appeared in the April 18 print edition. Email Alex Bazeley at [email protected].