The baseball team swept a three-game series at Bowdoin this weekend, winning the opener on Friday and both games of a Saturday doubleheader. Although coach John Casey expected a challenge, the Polar Bears proved no competition for the Jumbos.
With the victories - 14-2, 8-3, and 13-3 - Tufts vaulted past Trinity for first place in the NESCAC East.
"We're obviously happy to take all three," senior tri-captain Dan Callahan said. "It was good that we didn't let up at all this weekend through all three."
In the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, pitching carried the Jumbos. Senior tri-captain Steve Lapham started the game and went four innings, giving up no earned runs. He did surrender six hits - and Bowdoin threatened to score on two separate occasions - leading coach Jon Casey to bring in sophomore pitcher Randy Newsom early.
Newsom completed the final five innings, giving up only one earned run and three hits on the way to his third victory of the season. He lulled the Polar Bears to sleep, striking out nine batters.
"However coach wants to use me is fine," Newsom said of coming out of the bullpen. "We have three great starters in Lapham, Martin and Lee, if coach wants to use me like that in league games, that's perfect for me."
Freshman catcher Bob Kenny and sophomore left fielder Greg Hickey each had three hits, with two doubles apiece.
Kenny and junior tri-captain Evan Zupancic hit homeruns. Senior first baseman Tim Ayres went 2-4 with a double en route to a three-RBI day. Zupancic accounted for the team's other two RBIs.
In the first game of Saturday's double-header, junior Jon Lee demonstrated why he earned last season's NESCAC pitcher of the year title. Lee pitched all seven innings of the game, giving up nine hits to match his nine strikeouts. All three runs scored were earned, lowering his ERA to 4.57. The win pushed his record to 3-1 on the season.
The Jumbos got the spark they needed from the top of the lineup in this game, with Zupancic and designated hitter Jon Herbert each going 3-5 from the number one and two slots in the lineup. Zupancic smacked another homerun and had two RBI, while Herbert scored two runs. Callahan tallied two hits to go along with three RBI and sophomore left fielder Drew Blewett went 2-4, scoring two runs.
The Jumbos never trailed, as they broke the scoreless tie in the third inning with two runs. The squad continued its run surge, scoring three in the fourth and two in the seventh. The team scored eight runs, but had the potential to do even more damage as they left ten runners stranded on base for the game.
In Friday's game, junior pitcher Dave Martin continued his unbeaten ways, pushing his record to 4-0. Martin tossed eight innings, giving up four hits and one earned run while striking out three. Martin's ERA was already so low that the game actually served to increase it from 0.30 to 0.46 - which leads both the team and the nation.
Zupancic had the hot bat on Friday as he hit his fifth homerun and stroked two doubles on the day. After the weekend, the tri-captain had seven home runs on the season.
Also contributing from the outfield was Blewett, who went 4-6, scoring two runs. Sophomore third basemen Adam Kacamburas also had a big day at the plate, going 3-6 with three RBIs.
"A lot of guys are stepping up, Adam Kacamburas has been hitting the ball the whole year, Evan has been on fire lately," Newsom said. "Drew Blewett and Bob Kenny had great weekends."
Although the game ended with a convincing 10-run victory, it was not always in hand for the Jumbos. Tufts was down 3-0 to the Polar Bears through four innings, before the squad came through with 13 unanswered runs. The Jumbos scored two runs in the top of the fifth, five runs in the seventh, and six in the eighth.
"Well I think that is part of developing throughout the season, no matter what the score, anytime in the game, we know we have to answer," Callahan said of being down 0-3 in the fourth inning. "We knew we had to respond to their runs and ended up beating them pretty handily."
It was gratifying for the team to remain undefeated in conference, but the larger challenge arrives this weekend. The second-place Trinity Bantams will play the Jumbos in Medford, with the winner of the series likely to clinch first place in the division as well as home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Newsom said the Bowdoin sweep was important, but Trinity is even more crucial. "This is going to be a very pivotal weekend in deciding how the NESCAC tournament looks for us," he said. "We want to win all our league games, but we also have even more incentive because we want to have the NESCAC tournament at home."
