Medford, Mass. – Senior C Alex Perry (Danvers,
Mass.) blasted a solo home run in the bottom of the
seventh inning to give the Tufts University Jumbos the lead for
good in a 14-9 decision over the visiting Trinity College Bantams
in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) East
Division baseball action this afternoon at Huskins Field.
Tufts, which had already owned the top seed as the host of the 2010
NESCAC Championship Tournament, is now 23-5 overall and
finishes 10-2 in NESCAC East play. Trinity drops 16-9 and
closes at 6-6 in league. The loss officially eliminates the
Bantams from consideration for the NESCAC Tourney, which it has won
the last two springs.
Trinity busted out of the gate first, scoring three times in the
top of the first, keyed by a two-out two-run double by first-year
2B Joe Papa (Cambridge, Mass.). The Jumbos
were kept quiet through the first two frames, but broke onto the
scoreboard with a pair of runs in the third, taking advantage of a
hit by pitch and a walk. Junior Ben Walkley
(Trumbull, Conn.) singled in the first run, and teamed
with junior SS David Leresche (St. Louis,
MO) to execute a double-steal for the second
run. The Bantams answered back in the top of the fourth with
two of their own on a single by first-year SS Steven Howard
(Cheshire, Conn.), and a throwing error by the Jumbos that
plated Howard. Trinity's 5-2 advantage was quickly cut
into by the Jumbos in the bottom of the fourth, as again Tufts put
two runs across the plate on sacrifice flies from junior 2B
Frank Petroskey (Dallas, Texas) and junior
Ian Goldberg (Lake Forest, Ill). In the top
of the sixth, the Bantams received a lead-off double from
first-year 1B Brad Runowicz (Cheshire, Conn.) and
sophomore C Kevin Mortimer (Spencer, Mass.)
singled him home. Tufts answered the run and add another in
the bottom of the inning as the first three to bat all
singled. The third single was an RBI hit by LeResche who
scored on yet another sacrifiice fly to tie the game at 6-6.
Tufts starting pitcher sophomore Kevin Gilchrist
(Medford, Mass.) set down the Bantams in order in the
seventh, and the Jumbos took the lead in the bottom of the
inning. With two outs, Perry connected on his third homer of
the year to give the Jumbos their first lead of the contest.
After another scoreless inning for Trinity, Tufts erupted in the
bottom of the eighth, plating seven runs on five hits.
Trinity made things interesting in the ninth, as
back-to-back-to-back solo home runs by seniors Matthew
Sullivan (North Reading, Mass.) and James Wood
(Windham, N.H.) and first-year 3B Stephen Rogers
(Watertown, Mass.) narrowed the deficit to 14-9. The
Bantams loaded the bases after that, but with the tying run
standing on-deck, sophomore closer Chris DeGoti (Miami,
Fla.) fanned sophomore PH Andrew Koris (Milton,
Mass.) to save it.
box score
