The baseball team entered this weekend hungry for an upset over the nation's lone undefeated team. Unfortunately for Tufts, the visiting Trinity Bantams demonstrated why they're among the nation's best, staging two big rallies to sweep the Jumbos and sew up the NESCAC East crown.
The Bantams put on a power display at Huskins Field, taking Friday's game 7-3 and sweeping Saturday's doubleheader 17-10 and 15-0. With the losses, the Jumbos slipped 4-5 in NESCAC play and 13-12 overall.
Trinity started Saturday's nightcap with a bang, getting a leadoff homer from designated hitter Chandler Barnard. Jumbo freshman starter Pat O'Donnell, who entered the game undefeated, gave up an RBI single in the second inning and a home run to right fielder James Wood in the third.
In the fourth inning, however, wheels came off for O'Donnell. The Bantams sent 12 men to the plate to drop eight runs on the Jumbos and push the lead to 11-0. Tufts managed only two hits in the game along the way to the 15-0 loss.
In Saturday's doubleheader opener, the Jumbos gave Trinity one of its biggest scares of the year. Senior second baseman Steve Ragonese put Tufts up early with a three-run bomb in the first inning. Bantam starter Barnard struggled throughout the day, and he was eventually chased in the bottom of the fourth as the Jumbos upped their run total to eight on a Ragonese double and a single by freshman Chase Rose. Ragonese's six RBI on the day put him at 44 for the year, a single-season Tufts record.
Up 8-1 after four innings, the Jumbos looked to starter Jason Protano to hold the lead and give Trinity its first loss of the year. Unfortunately for the home team, the Bantams managed to find their stroke against the Tufts senior. Trinity cut into the lead in the fifth on junior second baseman Ryan Piacentini's three-run home run.
Piacentini struck again in the sixth, singling home senior left fielder Matt Stafford with the bases loaded. Junior catcher Sean Killeen then tied the game at 9-9 with a grand slam to left.
Down 10-9 in the seventh, Tufts got help from Ragonese once again, this time in the form of a solo homer to right field. Any excitement would be short-lived, however, as sophomore Jumbo reliever Tommy Hill gave up seven runs on three homers in the top of the eighth inning. In a game where Tufts had complete control, Trinity went on to win 17-10.
"I don't think we let them off the hook," coach John Casey said. "I think [Trinity] is a very good baseball team. I think we played well in spurts but not a complete game."
On Friday, the Jumbos faced reigning NESCAC Pitcher of the Year Tim Kiely. Entering the game 6-0 with a 0.86 ERA, Kiely was in control if not dominant. In eight innings, the hard-throwing right-hander allowed three runs on seven hits, striking out 12 and surrendering his first walk of the season.
Tufts jumped on Kiely early, as freshman Ian Goldberg walked and sophomore Corey Pontes singled him to second base in the bottom of the first inning. Rose then doubled to right field to drive in both runners and give the Jumbos a quick 2-0 lead.
The Bantams struck back the very next inning, however, with a two-run home run from Wood that scored sophomore first baseman Kent Graham. In the top of the fourth, senior shortstop Thomas DiBenedetto walked with two outs and senior Matt Stafford drove him in with a double to left-center.
Jumbo senior Adam Telian was chased from the mound in the seventh, as Barnard led off the inning with a triple and was singled home by Piacentini to give Trinity a 5-2 lead. The Jumbos got a run back in their half of the seventh on sophomore catcher Alex Perry's groundout to shortstop to score Rose, who had reached base on his second double of the day.
The Bantams tacked on two more in the eighth against freshman reliever Ed Bernstein and went on to win the series opener 7-3.
"It was pretty hard to deal with, especially since we were winning two of the games," Telian said of the weekend sweep. "It just came as a bit of a shock. We thought we had a chance to play with them."
Tufts next plays at Bentley today before hosting Colby this weekend in a series with serious NESCAC playoff
ramifications.
"I'm not worried about that," Casey said. "I'm worried about playing well against Bentley. We just need to go out and play well and see what happens."
"We've already put it behind us," Telian added. "We're capable of playing much better."
