The task at hand was daunting for the men's baseball team: A two-day excursion to nearby Trinity, New England's top-rated Division III squad, for three games in two days. Trinity entered the series with an imposing 18-1 record, riding high on the arms of the touted brother tandem of Jonah and Jarrett Bayliss, the league's two most commanding arms. But if the weekend was a test, the Jumbos aced the exam with convincing victories of 22-0, 5-0, and 19-2 to improve to 11-7 (5-0) and move into first place in the NESCAC.
The statistics were impressive: Tufts did not surrender a run until the fourth inning of the third game. The squad received stellar pitching efforts from its top three starters, Jon Lee, Steve Lapham, and Dave Martin. The trio combined to pitch 23 of the weekend's 25 innings, allowing two earned runs and walking only six batters. And the Jumbos played almost flawless defense, making only one miscue early in the first game.
"Trinity is a good team," freshman pitcher Randy Newsom, who tossed an inning of flawless relief in the third game, said. "But this was sort of a culmination for us. We were focused on what we had to do, and for the first time we clicked on all cylinders. This is the way we need to play, and the way we can play, and we'll win our share."
In the series opener on Friday afternoon, sophomore Jon Lee pitched a stellar baseball game, allowing only three hits, striking out eight, and walking only three in a complete game effort. With Friday's performance, Lee improved his season mark to 4-0. The big hit of the day, perhaps the biggest of the weekend, came from slugger and captain Todd Boutwell. With Tufts holding a surmountable 4-0 lead in the fifth, Boutwell smacked a three-run homer.
"Four runs isn't a huge lead," freshman third baseman Nick Palange said. "We knew going in this was a tough team, a team that thought it would win any game that was close. After Todd's homerun, they really seemed to buckle. It set a tone for the weekend."
The Jumbos added more offense, plating five more runs in the sixth, three in the seventh, and seven more in the ninth to cap a stunning 22-0 victory.
The second game featured a solid effort from junior Steve Lapham, whose pitching has seen a marked improvement after an inconsistent start. Lapham pitched six of the game's seven innings, and shut out the Bantams, striking out three, walking none, and working his way out of a few jams. Tufts would receive all the offense they needed on a first inning triple by right-fielder Dan Callahan, the weekend's offensive catalyst.
Callahan, hitting in the third slot in the lineup, went 4-7 in Friday's opener, scoring three runs and knocking in three. He went 2-2 in Saturday's first game with two more RBI and in Saturday's nightcap went 5-7, scoring three runs while driving in another.
"Even Dan's outs were hit hard," Palange said.
The third game was another blowout. Tufts had 22 hits, and batted around in the top of the first inning, scoring four runs and never looking back. Catcher Joe Surprenant drove in four runs, and the Jumbos cruised for a 19-2 win.
While Trinity will undoubtedly be heard from again, when faced with the adversity of a pending defeat, it folded.
"Their strength is their pitching," Newsom said. "Offensively, we were good. We did everything coach told us to. We worked counts, didn't swing at bad pitches, got on base, and got big hits. We'll see them again and they'll be hungry for us, but for this weekend we had their number."
Having won nine of its last ten games, Tufts gets right back into action today against Brandeis, a talented squad looking to deflate Tufts' momentum. But with three convincing wins over New England's highest-rated team, the Jumbos know that if they perform well and do the little things right, they can play with anyone.
