SANFORD, Fla. - Senior shortstop Matt Keen (Tallmadge, Ohio/Tallmadge) achieved one of the rarest feats in baseball, the straight steal of home plate, to lead Case Western Reserve University to an 11-0 victory versus Brandeis University (Mass.) on day five of the 2013 University Athletic Association Championship at Sanford Memorial Stadium. 

The Spartans (6-3, 4-2 UAA) sit a game behind first-place Washington University-St. Louis (5-1 UAA) in the conference standings. The two will meet tomorrow in what amounts to the UAA Championship game at 11:00 a.m. The Spartans handed the Bears their only league loss by a score of 13-3 in seven innings this past Tuesday. 

With the loss, Brandeis drops to 4-8 overall and 2-4 in the UAA. 

Freshman pitcher Neal Krentz (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser) continued the hot start to his collegiate career with five shutout innings on the mound on just two hits and two walks. The rookie right-hander is now 2-0 with a 0.00 earned run average in 10.1 innings of work. 

Joining Keen in the offensive outburst was sophomore leftfielder Kerrigan Cain (Hartville, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) and junior second baseman Andrew Frey (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor). Cain was 3-for-6 and finished only a homer shy of the cycle with a run batted-in and a run scored. Frey was 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs. 

Keen's steal of home opened the scoring in the top of the first, but the Spartans did most of their damage in the second with a five-run rally that was highlighted by an RBI double from sophomore designated hitter William Meador (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne).

Another single tally in the fourth pushed the lead to 7-0, and Case then put the game out of reach with four in the ninth thanks to RBI doubles from senior centerfielder Paul Pakan (Tallmadge, Ohio/Tallmadge) and Frey as well as an RBI single by freshman outfielder Marques Winick (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North).

Junior southpaw Ray Kelly (Rochester, N.Y./Aquinas Institute) replaced Krentz on the mound and threw two innings of scoreless relief with a strikeout. Freshman Connor Tagg (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) and junior Jose Vega (Strongsville, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) also threw an inning each out of the bullpen to secure the win. 

Elio Fernandez (0-1) threw the first six innings for Brandeis in the loss.