Baseball places three on All-UAA team

WALTHAM, Mass. – Three members of the Brandeis University baseball team have been selected to the 2026 All-University Athletic Association team. Sophomore 3B

Ben Kuja of

Madison, Connecticut, and sophomore 1B

Danny Tambascia of

Newton, Massachusetts, were first-team All-UAA selections, while graduate student pitcher

Jacob Maurer of

Dayton, Ohio, was a second-team member.

Kuja, the team's lead-off hitter, batted .319 with eight doubles, four triples and two home runs for a .472 slugging percentage and a .425 on-base percentage. He led the team with 37 runs scored and was second with 46 hits. He also finished third on the squad with 11 stolen bases, getting caught just once. Kuja tied for eighth in the UAA in runs scored and tied for third in triples. He also finished 10

th in RBI. His 23 RBI and 22 runs scored in conference games ranks fifth in the league, while 27 hits tied for seventh. Kuja hit safely in 27 of the Judges' 35 games this season with 13 multi-hit games. Among his best performances was a 4-4 game with six RBI, a double and a triple in a 19-6 win against conference champions Chicago on April 5 and a 4-5 game with seven RBI, five runs scored and a home run against NYU on April 11 when the Judges won, 27-3.

Tambascia, who hit third in the Brandeis lineup, led the team with a .383 batting average, 10 doubles, and 37 RBI. He tied for the team lead with four triples and tied for second with three home runs. Tambascia led the Judges with a .594 slugging percentage and .497 on-base percentage for a 1.091 OPS. He finished third in the UAA in batting average and on-base percentage, fourth in OPS and fifth in slugging percentage. He was eighth in RBI, tied for third in triples and 10

th in hits. Tambascia's numbers were even better in UAA play, where he led the circuit in batting average (.431) and on-base percentage (.543) and finished second in slugging (.708) and OPS (1.251). His 31 hits and 16 walks were each third in league play, while his 22 RBI were seventh and his 20 runs scored were ninth. Tambascia hit safely in 29 of the team's 35 games with a team-high 14 multi-hit games. Tambascia ended the season with a 23-game on-base streak, the team's longest of the season. Among his best performances was a 4-4 game with three RBI, three runs scored and a double in a 13-2 win at Case Western Reserve on March 27 and a 3-4 game with seven RBI, two runs scored, a double and a home run in the team's big 27-3 win against NYU on April 11.

Maurer, a graduate transfer from Division I Lafayette College, went 4-3 on the hill for the Judges with a 3.53 earned-run average in 43.1 innings pitched, tops among team starters in wins and ERA. He was second on the squad with 41 strikeouts and tied for the team lead among starters with a .196 batting average against. His 1.15 walks and hits per inning pitched was also best on the team, while his 6.02 hits allowed per nine innings ranked 26

th in Division III. Maurer tied for the UAA lead with teammate

Dimitri Skourides for the best opponent's batting average, while finishing fifth in ERA and 10

th in strikeouts. In conference games, Maurer was 3-2 with a 2.87 ERA, sixth-lowest in the league, while limiting UAA hitters to just a .165 batting average. Maurer tied for third in the league with three UAA wins and was fifth with 31.1 innings pitched. In his five UAA starts, Maurer allowed two or fewer runs in four of them, including a complete-game five-hitter against Washington University on April 17 in which he struck out seven as the Judges won, 3-1. Maurer also went seven innings and limited Emory to just three hits and two earned runs in a hard-luck 2-0 loss on April 24.

In head coach

Derek Carlson '91's 11

th season at the helm, the Brandeis University baseball team finished its 2026 campaign with a 21-15 record, 11-9 in the UAA. The Judges posted their first 20-win season since going 24-19 in 2011 and finished with a school-record 11 conference wins since the UAA went to a full 20-game schedule in 2017. Their third-place finish in the UAA was their highest since tying for the team title in 2008. The Judges boasted one of the best defenses in Division III, finishing 10

th with a .975 fielding percentage and a top-line pitching staff that was fifth in hits allowed per nine innings at 7.41.

Kuja is a 2024 graduate of Daniel Hand High School.

Tambascia is a 2024 graduate of Newton North High School.

Maurer is a 2021 graduate of Archibishop Carroll High School.

For more information on Brandeis University baseball, please visit their home page at

https://brandeisjudges.com/sports/baseball.

For more information on Brandeis athletics, visit our web page at www.brandeisjudges.com or follow us on social media on X, Instagram, and Facebook @BrandeisJudges.