The baseball team rallied in both games of its Saturday double-header to come from behind and take victories away from Trinity. Although both games looked bleak early on, the Jumbo bats woke up in time for two wins to take the weekend series from the Bantams two games to one.
In game two, the Jumbos were down 4-6 going into the bottom of the fourth, but three Trinity errors and five runs pushed Tufts to a 9-6 lead. Senior tri-captain Dan Callahan was one of the main sparks in the bottom of the fourth rally as he hit a run scoring triple to tie the game at 6-6.
Trinity made the game a nail bitter until the end on the backs of senior shortstop Andy Freimuth, who hit a solo homerun in the top of the seventh. Bantams senior Nick Callini and freshman Jayme Dorr had RBI base hits to cut the Jumbo lead to 10-9.
In the bottom of the seventh, sophomore Greg Hickey answered the Bantams threat with his second homerun of the day, this one being of the two-run variety. With Tufts ahead 12-9, Trinity posted one more run before Tufts shortstop/pitcher Brian Shapiro came into the game to shut the door on Trinity and earn the save.
"I haven't been pitching that much so far this year," Shapiro said. "It was nice to contribute on that side of things. [Coach John Casey] hasn't used me that much so I didn't have any arm problems."
Sophomore Randy Newsom started the game and threw three innings, and sophomore Dave Frew entered the game in the fourth. Frew earned the win to improve his record to 2-0.
Junior tri-captain Evan Zupancic hit his eighth homerun of the season, tying a Tufts single season record. He went 3-5 in game two and scored two runs.
Even with his name in the record books, Zupancic was not that excited. "I'd rather that we win games than people making records," Zupancic said. "If hitting homeruns is helping the team win, then absolutely it is a good thing, but only when it is in our favor."
Callahan also got his swagger back, going 3-5 and scoring three runs.
In game one, comeback was also the theme. Going into the bottom of the fifth, the Jumbos were down 2-4 and looked like they were headed to their second loss in a row. With time running out, as they only play seven innings in the first game of a double-header, it seemed as though the team was shot with a jolt. Hickey blasted a homerun over the left-center wall and a clutch two out single by junior Jon Herbert evened the game at 4-4.
The following inning, the Jumbos continued what they had started, hitting three singles in a row to load the bases. With senior first baseman Tim Ayres on third, Hickey on second, and sophomore third baseman Adam Kacamburas on first, freshman catcher Bob Kenny stepped to the plate. Kenny hit a one hopper through the infield scoring Ayres easily with Hickey motoring in with a look of determination behind him. With Tufts up 6-4, and runners on the corners, freshman second baseman Frank Dinucci caught a break as junior first baseman Kurt Piantek dropped the put out throw from third. With the bases loaded Zupancic stepped into a pitch to pick up the RBI and all but end Trinity's hopes of winning.
After a shaky start in which he gave up back to back homeruns in the first inning, junior Jon Lee regrouped and surrendered only two more runs.
The long ball killed Lee, but he worked hard to keep the Jumbos in the game. Shapiro entered the game in the sixth to pick up the win, improving to 2-0 on the season. Lee and Shapiro combined for 11 strikeouts.
In both games Shapiro moved from shortstop to pitcher, which sounds like it might be tough on one's arm, but Shapiro says the opposite. "It's actually not that bad at all, my arm is warm because I'm in the field," he said. "It's easier than coming off the bench."
"After getting down really early in the first game, we had to show what we are made of," Zupancic said. "We had to respond, and I think we responded well. I think we were just a little bit harder and tougher than they were, mentally and on the field, so we ended up with the win."
The Jumbos did not fare as well against the Bantams on Friday, though. After getting up on junior pitcher Jonah Bayliss 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth, the Jumbos could not buy offense for the rest of the game and finished with only three hits, losing 2-1.
Zupancic hit an infield single with Herbert following him with an opposite field single to advance Zupancic to third. Zupancic scored when Callahan hit a fielder's choice, forcing Herbert out at second. The next batter, Shapiro, walked putting runners on first and second with one out. Bayliss pitched his way out of the jam, surrendering only one run.
"He was pretty, good, he threw really hard. If you are not a disciplined hitter he can make you look foolish," Zupancic said. "He made all of us look foolish at some point. We were trying to pull the ball, which you can't do against people who throw that hard. You have to slap the ball opposite field. It showed he was good because we only had one run and three hits on the board."
Bayliss was not the only pitcher cruising, as junior Dave Martin put his sub-one ERA on the line and did not disappoint. Martin was dominating the Bantams through five innings until the game was delayed 45 minutes due to lightening. That might have been the kiss of death, as Dorr hit a solo homerun off of Martin to lead off the seventh inning.
Freshman catcher Andrew Fries scored the Bantams second run in the top of the eighth. Fries went 4-5 on the day.
Martin did an excellent job scattering 13 hits and had two strikeouts, while Bayliss ended up with ten strikeouts. Both pitchers tossed complete games in a classic pitchers duel.
"Martin pitched a great game on Friday," Zupanic said. "Anytime the pitcher only gives up two runs, we shouldn't lose a game, especially with the ability we have at the plate."
Even with the heartbreaker on Friday, the weekend was a success for the Jumbos, as they retained their first place standing in the NESCAC East at 7-1. Trinity was dropped to 8-4 in the league, making the league title and home field advantage in the playoffs in arms length for Tufts, as there are four league games left.
"It just shows how tough we are," Zupancic said. "We had our backs against the wall, after losing Friday like we did, we responded."
