Strong bats and timely pitching gave Tufts the advantage yesterday as the Jumbos improved their road record with a 9-4 win over Brandeis. Although the cold weather conditions were an obstacle for both teams, the Jumbos managed to get out to an early lead in the game and hold-off the Judges with solid pitching and defense.
Tufts came out of the gates hard, posting five runs in the first three innings. Sophomores Bryan McDavitt and Chris Decembrele, junior Greg Chertok and senior Greg Hickey led the early rally with key RBI.
Sophomore righty Carlos Lopez started his first game of the season for the Jumbos, and Craig Letendre took the hill for the Judges.
Brandies had a chance to put together a rally in the bottom of the second, scoring one run with two outs, but Lopez got out of the jam and the Judges left two men on base at the end of the inning.
Although the early offense gave Tufts an early lead, the team was stranding runners on base and did not capitalize on many of its scoring opportunities.
"I think we did pretty [well] overall," McDavitt said. "We strung together a bunch of hits early on in the game, but we were still inconsistent at points [at the plate]."
Coach John Casey attributes some of his team's inability to capitalize in scoring situations to the cold weather conditions.
"The cold weather didn't help us, it was a 30 degree difference from our last game, but we got through it," Casey said. "We hit the ball okay. Hickey was hitting the ball hard, but we could've capitalized earlier in the game. We made up for it with a good run in the second [inning]."
With the score stagnant at 5-1, neither team could put together any more scoring rallies until late in the game when the Jumbos outscored the Judges 4-3 in the final two innings. By the time Brandeis first baseman Bryan Lambert blasted a solo homer in the ninth inning, it was too little, too late.
Tufts used six pitchers in the victory and got strong performances from junior Erik Johanson, sophomores Aaron Narva and Carlos Lopez and freshmen Jason Protano, Brian Dzialo and Adam Telian.
Dzialo took over in the third inning and pitched three innings of scoreless, hitless ball to get the win. The rookie did walk the bases loaded with one out in the fifth, but worked out of the jam with a strike out and deep fly ball.
"[Dzialo] played very well," Casey said. "We're confident in him, and think he's tough enough mentally to go out there and play well. He struggled and had one tough inning, but he got out of it, and pitched three good innings."
Johanson and Protano both pitched one hitless inning of relief.
"We've been pitching everyone, and our guys have been throwing pretty well," senior captain Bob Kenny said. "Our younger pitchers are throwing the ball hard, and it's good to get the whole staff on the mound, getting some work in."
Letendre took the loss for the Judges.
Hickey finished three for five with two RBIs and two runs scored and McDavitt went two for three with one RBI and one run scored. Junior Jim O'Leary led off for the Jumbos and went two for five with one run scored.
This weekend, Tufts will host a three game series with league rival Bowdoin College. Bowdoin is currently ranked third in the NESCAC-East with a 3-3 record, and stands at 11-6 overall. Although Trinity College recently swept them the Polar Bears, Bowdoin will still provide a tough matchup for the streaking Jumbos.
Tufts currently sits atop the NESCAC-East with a 2-0 league record. The Jumbos are 12-6 overall. The Polar Bears are in third behind Tufts and powerhouse Trinity, who sits in second with a 18-2 record (5-1 league).
"[Bowdoin] is usually our second toughest opponent we play in the league," Kenny said. "They always play us tough, and we'll have to play well against them to take a game."
