National honor bestowed on pitcher Lee

Senior pitcher Jon Lee's sparkling season just keeps getting better.

Lee was named National College Baseball Writers Association Div. III National Pitcher of the Week following Saturday's dominating display at Bowdoin. Lee started both games of the weekend's doubleheader, going 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA. He surrendered just one run in 13 innings of work. He was also named co-recipient of the NESCAC Player of the Week award for the second time in as many weeks.

"It's good to be recognized," Lee said. "But more important is whether we win or lose. What I really want is to do better as a team, even more than last year, which was pretty successful."

Initially scheduled to start the first game of the double header and go only three innings in the second, Lee led Tufts to a 5-1 win with a complete game three-hitter in game one. Sharp control and a low pitch count in game two allowed him six innings of two-hit, shutout ball. For the day, Lee did not surrender a walk while holding opponents to a .116 batting average.

"[The award is] very well deserved," coach John Casey said. "His effort up at Bowdoin was tremendous, and he pitched exceptionally well under pressure. No matter what, he steps up and does the job, and we're all very excited."

Lee has been a force on the mound all season. With a team-leading 6-2 record and a 2.51 ERA in eight appearances, the Manhasset Hills, NY native has provided stability at the top of the Jumbo rotation. He recorded his second career no-hitter March 29 against Bates.

Strong pitching will be essential this weekend against the Trinity Bantams (11-6) in Hartford, CT. The Bantams are tied with Tufts (13-6) for the NESCAC East lead with a 5-1 record. Trinity has been largely carried by a heavy-hitting lineup. Senior infielders Kurt Piantek (.599, 8 HR, 31 RBI, 1.017 slugging percentage) and Jayme Door (.394, six HR, 29 R) form the formidable heart of the Bantam's order.

Trinity has a NESCAC-leading 81 runs scored in six games (189 in 17 games overall), while batting .365 with 34 homeruns and a .455 on-base percentage. The Jumbos sit at .291 with seven homers and 35 runs in NESCAC games (112 overall).

While on paper it may seem like a battle between Tufts pitching and Trinity hitting, Casey looks at it differently.

"I think it's just the opposite. If we don't hit we're not going to win the game," Casey said. "At some point we're going to scratch something. How our season ends comes out of this weekend in some sense."

Junior pitcher Randy Newsom agreed, saying the team will work on keeping the ball down in the strike zone to counter the Trinity offense. But he cautioned against giving the Bantams a one-dimensional label.

"That's the match-up everyone's talking about," Newsom said about Tufts' pitching and Trinity's offense. "But [Trinity is] a very solid baseball team. They can hit, they've got solid defense, and good pitching."

Trinity's pitching has been far less reliable than that of Tufts. Of the Bantam starters, only junior righty Kevin Tidmarsh has been consistent, winning all four of his starts while notching a 3.12 ERA. Tidmarsh has a 13:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (26 K's, 2 BB in 26 innings), but opponents are hitting .312 overall against the Bantams. By comparison, Tufts has limited rivals to a .283 average, led by Newsom's .171.

Lee leads the Jumbos in pitching against Trinity, with a 2-0 record and two shutouts in three career appearances. The Bantams have batted like a flock of scared chickens against Lee, pecking out a measly .165 average over the last three seasons. But he too warned against overlooking the Trinity team.

"This weekend is a big test to see how good we are," Lee said. "We've played some average teams so far, and this will show how we fare against good teams."

Junior DH/catcher Greg Hickey and senior tri-captain center fielder Evan Zupancic lead the Jumbos offensively in past games against Trinity. In five contests, Hickey has a .600 average and is slugging a whopping 1.500 with three homers and nine runs batted in. Zupancic has batted at a .400 clip with a team-leading 12 runs scored.

While senior tri-captain Brian Shapiro is the regular Jumbo closer, the team has been hesitant to use him lately due to his value at the starting shortstop position. Newsom (3-1, 1.71 ERA, 4 saves) has stepped up to fill the gap, seeing both starting and closing action. The key to a successful season ending, according to the righty, is to approach the game with three main things in mind.

"I just like to pitch, whether it's starting, middle relief, closing or mopping up. I just want to help the team," Newsom said. "We need to relax, to have fun, and play hard. Do those three things, and we'll be fine. The wins will take care of themselves."