The fans that came out to see the Tufts baseball team square off against the Bates Bobcats Tuesday at Huskins Field were rewarded with not only nice weather, but another NESCAC East win for the Jumbos. Solid pitching, three solo home runs and an explosive seventh inning propelled the team to a 10-1 win to make their record 2-0 NESCAC, 7-5 overall.
Junior Matt Clement set the tone for the game in the first inning. As the leadoff hitter for the Jumbos, he blasted a shot over the left-field fence to put a run up on the board. The home run was an offensive break-through for Clement, who has a .071 BA in 28 at-bats this season.
The Tufts offense stayed quiet over the next two innings. Sophomore first baseman Bryan McDavitt and senior leftfielder Jeff Volinski each singled up the middle, but the score stayed at 1-0.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Volinski led off the inning with a home run over the left field fence. The home runs by Clement and Volinski were the first of their collegiate careers. Volinski's shot was then followed by three consecutive outs.
"[The offense was] sporadic," coach John Casey said. "There were good at-bats and bad at-bats. There were a couple that went into the wind [and over the fence], but we did nothing after that."
In the sixth inning, sophomore centerfielder Chris Decembrele became the third Jumbo to start an inning with a solo home run, knocking a shot out of the park to make the score 3-0. It was Decembrele's third career home run.
"It was a close one for awhile, but we turned it on," Decembrele said. "From then on, we looked pretty good. It was good to see Clement get a home run."
"All the home runs were leadoff," he added. "And that sparks batters to hit, so it was nice to see. It's good to have runners on [for home runs], but you do what you have to."
Tufts starter sophomore Derek Rice had six shutout innings, but the Bobcats retaliated in the seventh. Freshman Bobcat pinch hitter Brian Buckley smacked a double, and then freshman pinch hitter Alex Maulucci drove him in with a single to make the score 3-1.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Jumbos tacked on another five runs to widen the gap. Facing a new Bobcat pitcher, freshman Sean VanderVliet, junior shortstop Greg Chertok led off with a single and then stole second.
VanderVliet put the Bobcats deeper in the hole when he hit Clement with a pitch, balked to advance him to second and Chertok to third, and then walked sophomore third baseman Kyle Backstrom. Chertok scored when McDavitt grounded out, and a double by senior DH Greg Hickey, batting cleanup, brought both Backstrom and Clement in to score.
Decembrele followed with a single, and Hickey scored on an error by sophomore Bobcat centerfielder Rob Schuler. Decembrele, who had reached second on the error, ran to third on a wild pitch. Sophomore second baseman Brian Casey blasted a single and scored Decembrele before VanderVliet was pulled from the game and replaced with senior Marco Charmella. Charmella retired Chertok in his second at-bat of the inning.
The Jumbos' bats carried the momentum through the eighth, when Backstrom singled to score junior Jim O'Leary, who pinch-hit for Clement and blasted a double.
The three leadoff home runs balanced the otherwise quiet offense during the first six innings and kept the Jumbos ahead. The inconsistency of the offensive performance is the area of the game the team will look to improve before it faces more NESCAC opponents. However, the Jumbos have already won their first two NESCAC East games, which puts the team in a good position - tied for first with Trinity in NESCAC East.
"It's a 12 [league] game season, and you want to win as many as you can," Casey said. "Right now, we have a little time to gather ourselves [before there are more league games]."
The pitching against Bates was solid, as it has been this whole season. Rice surrendered one run on five hits, striking out three and walking two. The win brought his record to 3-1. Sophomore Bates starter Griffin Finan gave up eight hits and three runs to notch his second loss, but struck out five in the process.
Senior Jeremy Davis replaced Rice in the seventh and faced one batter to finish the inning. Sophomore Aaron Narva took the mound in the eighth and allowed one hit and walked one, but struck out three to earn all of the inning's outs.
Sophomore Erik Johanson closed the game in the ninth, retiring three Bobcats in quick succession. Bates pitchers allowed 14 hits, significantly more than the six Jumbo pitchers allowed. The Jumbos were also able to steal four bases to out-run the Bobcats.
All things considered, Casey appeared pleased with the win.
"Bates beat us two-of-three games last year," he said. "We're doing our job on the mound and on the field."
