While inclement weather would not allow the baseball team to play on Saturday, the Jumbos followed Mother Nature's example and stormed out against Wesleyan on Sunday, sweeping the double header in Middletown, CT, 7-4, 3-2.
Amidst the two victories were personal achievements for senior pitcher Jon Lee and fellow senior and tri-captain Evan Zupancic.
Lee was named NESCAC Co-Player of the Week thanks to his 82 pitch, no-hit performance against Bates on Mar 29, while Zupancic broke the Tufts career homerun record in the first inning of game two on Sunday. The blast was the centerfielder's 20th career homer, surpassing the old record of 19 long balls shared by Bill Canon (1987-1990) and Eric Sholds (1990-1994).
"It was a pretty impressive shot considering the wind was blowing in and it was only 20 degrees," coach John Casey said. "[Zupancic] has been a good player for us especially since he was the lead off hitter for three years and just now is hitting third."
In the same game that Zupancic broke the Tufts homerun record, sophomore second baseman Frank Dinucci, put the Jumbos for good, 3-2, in the top of the fourth inning. His two-run single allowed the team to overcome its early 2-1 deficit.
"Dinucci was outstanding yesterday," Casey said. "He made every play and got
the big hit that brought in the two runs."
Tufts' defense and pitchers stranded nine Wesleyan base runners en route to the victory.
Lee recorded the win, bettering his record to 4-2 on the season, with a 3.30 ERA. Junior Randy Newsom earned the save, his second of the afternoon after retiring three straight batters in the seventh inning.
"[Lee] struggled a little bit, but he hung in there," Casey said. "Newsom did a great job at the end of both games with his saves."
In the first contest, Tufts defeated Wesleyan 7-4.
Wesleyan went up 4-3 in the third inning after senior right fielder Matt Johnson belted an RBI double.
Tufts senior Jon Herbert tied it up in the fourth with an RBI single. Herbert went three for four in the game and also scored two of the seven Tufts runs.
"We're hoping Jon gets a little more consistency," Casey said. "He hit the ball pretty well yesterday and is coming around. He certainly is working hard. It's important for him to score being our lead off guy."
Senior tri-captain Brian Shapiro scored an unearned run to break the 4-4 stalemate in the fifth inning after he legged out an infield single, and advanced around the bases on a passed ball, and two wild pitches. Shapiro also added insurance runs for the Jumbos with a two run single in the sixth.
Fellow senior tri-captain Dave Martin earned the win and remains undefeated at 4-0 this season. He went six and two thirds innings, surrendering seven hits. Newsom preserved the win for Martin in the bottom of the seventh by forcing a fielder's choice to end the game with two men on base.
As in other recent games, pitching and defense allowed the Jumbos to come out on top.
"We got good pitching and played fairly well defensively," Casey said. "That's what carried us. Some kids are starting to swing a bit better, but it would be nice to feel like everyone is getting there."
With the two wins on Sunday, last Wednesday's victory over Mass Maritime, and a series sweep of Bates two weekends ago, Tufts is now 6-0 since returning from its spring break trip.
The Jumbos (3-0 NESCAC East) are the only NESCAC team in either division still undefeated in league play. Amherst, Williams and Trinity are all 2-1 against league foes.
The Jumbos face off against non-league Bentley College this afternoon at 3 p.m. on Huskins Field.
Bentley has played just seven of its 18 scheduled games thanks to the New England spring climate. In those seven games the team has amassed a 2-5 record with its last game--a win--coming on Mar. 28 versus Bryant College.
Tufts fell to Bentley 15-5 exactly one year ago today. The Jumbos will try to continue their post-break win streak as well as give some young pitchers a chance to show their stuff against this non-conference adversary.
"[Last year against Bentley] we were coming off a weekend where we played four games," Casey said. "We were down in the pitching staff and it gave us chances for kids to pitch. It's the same thing this year. We'll pitch a bunch of guys and see how they shape up. As the schedule gets more condensed, they are going to have to step up and throw more."
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