The baseball team came out swinging yesterday in its home opener against Massachusetts Maritime Academy, shelling the Buccaneers 15-2. After a three-run homerun in the first inning by senior Greg Hickey, there was no looking back for Tufts.
Mass Maritime never held a lead in the game. With the win, the Jumbos improve their record to 5-5. Sophomore pitcher Derek Rice picked up the win pitching three scoreless innings, while Mass Maritime's Ryan Kurth took the loss, giving up seven runs in three innings.
The play that gave the Jumbos early momentum came on the three-run blast by Hickey when he smacked a high and outside pitch over the right field wall Hickey also contributed an RBI on a triple off a deep hit to center, finishing the day going two for three, knocking in four RBI's and scoring two runs.
"I just went with it," Hickey said on the homerun. "We put up some runs, and we haven't done that in a while."
The offense led the Jumbos to the blowout win, and it came out strong and early in the game. Hickey, senior Jeff Volinski and sophomores Bryan McDavitt, Chris Decembrele and Kyle Blackstrom all contributed RBIs early in key situations with players in scoring position and delivered a 7-0 Tufts lead at the end of the third inning. The team finished the game with 19 hits.
Blackstrom went three for four, with two RBIs and two runs. Decembrele and Volinksi finished the day going three for five, with two RBIs and two runs respectively.
According to coach John Casey, much of the offensive production was due to the fact that the Jumbos have been playing a lot over the last week.
"[McDavitt, Hickey and Volinski] had a good game offensively" Casey said. "We played good because we've been playing over the last week coming off our trip from down south. We're starting to get into a rhythm, and that helped us get the win. This was [Mass Maritime's] first game outside."
The offensive explosion comes after a long scoring slump for the Jumbos. In the previous six games, Tufts posted only 11 runs. The offensive turnaround can be attributed to the Jumbos aggressiveness at the plate and in key scoring situations throughout the game.
"Everyone came out of a slump today," senior captain Bob Kenney said. "We were pressing the plate a lot, and we were also relaxed at the plate and that helped us."
Despite the offensive numbers his team put up yesterday, Casey said the team still needs to work on its mechanics and execution.
"We played average," Casey said. "We still have guys who are making a lot of mistakes, and not doing what we're asking them to do at the plate."
Tufts' defense and pitching did not allow the Bucs to put men on base or capitalize in key situations for much of the game. The Jumbos were able to protect their lead and prevent Mass Maritime from rallying, holding the Bucs to eight hits and no runs until the fifth inning. Buccaneer sophomore Jacob Grabell went 3 for 4, leading the team in hits. The Bucs got on the score board in the fifth inning; when freshman Robert Weber hit a two-run homer off of Tufts' freshman Brian Dzialo.
Tufts got a strong performance from their right-handed starter, sophomore Derek Rice. Rice gave up no runs or hits, and finished with two strikeouts and two walks. The Jumbos also got strong pitching performances from junior Zak Smotherman and sophomore Aaron Narva, who tallied two and three strikeouts respectively, with no hits. Freshman Adam Telian also contributed two shutout innings with four strikeouts. The cushioned run support allowed many of the Jumbo pitchers to settle down and find their grooves.
Casey used seven pitchers in the game. "We had a lot of guys throwing strikes for us," he said. "Rice made some solid pitches for us early and everyone was throwing well. I think Smotherman and Narva played well for us too."
The Jumbos will play their first conference game of the season tomorrow against Bates, whose record is 1-4. Casey is focused on the game, but more focused on his players and their game play.
"Friday will be a division game, but right now we just need to worry about ourselves." Casey said. "We need to worry about playing the way we're capable of playing. When we get all nine guys going, we'll be ready for [Bates]."
