The Tufts baseball team opened its NESCAC schedule with a sweep of a double-header against Bates on Saturday. The wins extended the Jumbos' winning streak to eight games after starting the season 0-3-1.
Powered by a balanced offensive attack, the Jumbos scored seven runs on 15 hits in the first game of the doubleheader as Tufts went on to beat the Bobcats 7-2. Eight of the nine starters got at least one hit, and senior first baseman Tim Ayers went 2-4 with a solo home run.
Junior pitcher Dave Martin went the distance on the mound, surrendering only two runs in seven innings, though neither were earned.
Sweeping the afternoon proved more difficult, as the Jumbos needed a run in the bottom of the tenth to win the game 6-5. Junior center fielder Rob Maguire did a yeoman's job in the leadoff spot, going 2-5 with a homer, two runs, and three RBI. Senior right fielder Dan Callahan continued to improve on his impressive season, following up a 2-4 performance in the first game with a 2-3 showing in the second. He scored a run and had two stolen bases in the latter win.
"I think the most important thing is that we fought hard in the second game, in the last inning and came out with the win," junior centerfielder Evan Zupancic said. "We played baseball the way were supposed to. The last inning was a real strength for us. That's the way we need to play nine innings."
It was a group effort on the mound, as coach John Casey was forced to call upon his bullpen. Sophomore Randy Newsom got the start, and went three and one third innings, giving up three runs on five hits, before giving way to junior Mike Byron. The junior gave up one run in 3 2/3 innings before yielding the ball to junior Brian Shapiro, who had been playing shortstop prior to taking over on the mound. Shapiro went the rest of the way, giving up a run but garnering the win.
Despite the wins, Zupancic was not satisfied with the performance. "Personally I don't think we played particularly well," he said. "I think we are capable of playing to a higher standard than we did on Saturday. We came out with the wins which is important but we are trying to play at a high level. We weren't too happy with how we performed. Against a better team we probably wouldn't come out with a win."
The combination of Callahan, Shapiro, and Ayers, the 3-4-5 hitters, has been a lethal one all season. After the weekend, the three were batting .391, .426, and .400, respectively.
"We left a lot of guys on base," Zupancic said. "We had opportunities to drive guys in and really open up the game and we didn't. It really kind of hurt us and that was why we kept it kind of close in the second game. We gotta work on that and not keep [our runners] stranded on the bags."
The Jumbos take their attack, and the eight-game win-streak, to Mass Maritime today for a 3:00 game.
"It's a big game for us just because it's the next game," Zupancic said. "We look at one game at a time. We just really have to take it one game at time and not look ahead. If we look past teams they will come back and bite us in the butt."
