Baseball wins despite weather

The offense is streaky, the starting rotation is unsettled beyond the top three slots, and Mother Nature is disagreeable. But the Tufts baseball team continues to win. The Jumbos scratched out a 6-3 win over the Massachusetts Maritime Academy Buccaneers under rainy conditions last Wednesday at Huskins Field for their ninth win of the season and fourth in a row. The Bucs dropped to 2-4.

"We were very fortunate," coach John Casey said. "[The weather] is not an excuse for anything. If anything it should be an advantage for us, because we're supposed to have good pitching."

The game, delayed from last Tuesday due to snow and a muddy field, saw the action seesawing back and forth. Bucs starter senior Kevin McLaughlin was perfect through four innings, setting down the first twelve Jumbos in order.

"Yesterday was one of the worst games we've played all season," junior pitcher Randy Newsom said. "We didn't get it done out there."

Meanwhile the Bucs offense opened the game with two quick first-inning runs. Junior right fielder Paul Tedesco slapped the first pitch of Jumbo sophomore starter Jeremy Davis' afternoon for a double. Senior center fielder Dan Mochen followed with a walk before Greg LeBlanc singled in Tedesco to notch the Bucs' first run. A failed pick-off attempt at second by Davis then allowed Mochen to score.

The Bucs held the lead 2-0 until the bottom of the fifth, when the Jumbos finally got to McLauglin. Senior tri-captain and shortstop Brian Shapiro doubled to lead off the inning before hot-hitting sophomore DH Greg Hickey, who entered the game batting .561 with fifteen runs batted in, smacked his second homerun of the season to tie the game at two apiece.

The Bucs reclaimed the lead in the sixth when Mochen doubled in a run off senior tri-captain Dave Martin, who entered the game in relief.

Freshman right fielder Matt Clement put the Jumbos ahead for good 4-3 in the seventh, cranking a one out double to score senior tri-captain center fielder Evan Zupancic and Shapiro after the pair led off the inning with back-to-back singles.

The final two Jumbo runs scored later that inning on consecutive two-out doubles by sophomore catcher Bob Kenny, who plated Clement, and sophomore first baseman John McBride, who brought Kenny home.

Despite the timely hitting, the team is still unhappy with their inconsistent offensive output, especially this far into the season.

"I thought [McLaughlin] was nothing more than average, in fact not even that," Newsom said. "Lately we're not coming out of the box. We have to jump on people early and haven't been doing it yet. We're at the point in the season where it's do or die."

Kenny agreed, pointing to the team's timing and plate discipline as a major contributor to the offensive woes.

"We're really out in front of the ball a lot," Kenny said. "We're having trouble hitting it hard because we're not waiting on it enough."

Casey used seven pitchers in an attempt to find a fourth starter for this weekend's four-game set against the Wesleyan Cardinals. Sophomore left-hander Jeff Volinski followed Davis to the mound for the Jumbos, pitching two and a third innings of one-hit, shutout baseball while striking out four.

The current three-man rotation of Newsom, Martin and fellow senior Jon Lee also got some work in preparation for the weekend. Lee continued his recent dominance following his no-hitter against Bates last weekend, striking out two in one inning's work. Newsom pitched the final two innings, striking out three in earning his first career save.

Nobody, however, seems ready to make the step to become fourth starter.

"If you want to tell me who to pitch, let me know," Casey said. "Nobody is standing out yet."

This weekend's match-up should provide the team with strong opposition. A predominantly offensive squad has led the Cardinals to an 8-6 record, batting a combined .342 with 122 runs scored. Senior shortstop/pitcher Bill Robinson leads the team with a .429 average and twenty-three runs batted in.

"He's a good player," Casey said. "But we just need to worry about our own behinds. We just need to put it back to back to back. I don't really care if we win or lose, we just have to play to the level we're capable of and take it from there."

The Jumbos take on Wesleyan for a doubleheader at Huskins Field on Saturday at 1p.m., followed by a pair of games on Sunday at Wesleyan.