The Jumbos took the field at Brandeis University's Stein Diamond on Tuesday afternoon looking to buck a losing trend. Coming off a weekend sweep at the hands of the NESCAC East-leading Trinity Bantams and four defeats in their last five contests, the Jumbos sent freshman righty Chris DeGoti to the mound for his second collegiate start. With a 3-9 record in non-conference play this season, Tufts could hardly afford another defeat.
Faith in the rookie paid off for the Jumbos, as the first-year starter responded by tossing four shutout innings and surrendering just three hits. DeGoti collected two of the Jumbos' five strikeouts, did not walk a batter, and allowed an inefficient Tufts offense to bide its time against Brandeis sophomore Pat Nicholson on the mound. The Jumbos left Waltham with a 4-1 win.
"I thought we did a pretty good job just throwing the ball low, throwing strikes and getting ahead of hitters," junior pitcher Tommy Hill said. "Those are the keys to pitching in any game: Keep the ball down most of the time, and you won't get hurt. And I thought everyone did a pretty good job doing that."
After being held scoreless in the first inning, the Jumbo offense got on track in the second with a hard-hit double by sophomore Chase Rose, who appears to have shed an early-season slump. Rose came around to score on an RBI groundout courtesy of junior Alex Perry, giving Tufts an early 1-0 lead.
With DeGoti continuing to put zeroes on the board, the Jumbos extended their lead, plating a run each in the third and fourth innings. Senior Dave Katzman, who reached in all four of his plate appearances in the game, started the third inning off with a base hit and arrived home on an RBI single off the bat of senior co-captain Kevin Casey. Rose made things easy in the fourth, smashing a leadoff triple to deep right-center and touching home on a sacrifice fly by junior Nate Bankoff.
Despite tallying three runs in the first four innings, the Jumbos were stifled by Nicholson in their later efforts with runners on base. In total, a dozen of Tufts' 16 baserunners were stranded, many of them in scoring position. Still, coach John Casey was happy with the Jumbos' resilience.
"Our guys have struggled at the plate all year, but I am proud that they hang in there fighting and not giving up," Casey said. "We have to put the ball in play more consistently to score runs, and our guys are working hard at it."
Tufts would not score again until the final inning of the game, but solid pitching ensured that a much-needed victory would not slip away. Sophomore lefty Derek Miller preserved a 3-0 advantage for 3.2 innings, allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out a pair of his own to earn the win. Hill helped Miller out in a precarious eighth inning, stranding three Brandeis runners by inducing a fielder's choice groundout with the bases loaded.
"Obviously, whenever you come into a situation like that, you just try to get ahead, throw a first-pitch strike and get the out," Hill said. "I wasn't trying to strike anyone out, just throw a quality pitch and get out of the jam. The ball was low, and he hit a ground ball right at someone. Luckily, we didn't get hurt."
Sophomore David Leresche and Bankoff accounted for the Jumbos' ninth-inning output. Leresche led off the frame with a single before stealing second and advancing to third on a fly ball. An RBI single from Bankoff, who went 3-4 for the afternoon, would then send Leresche to the plate. That insurance run gave sophomore Ed Bernstein an important cushion when he relieved Hill in the bottom of the inning, going for his first collegiate save.
Bernstein entered with one out, runners at the corners, and the tying run in the batter's box after Hill surrendered a leadoff homer, a single and a walk. But the righty did not allow the Judges to come any closer, taking care of the threat with a strikeout and a harmless can of corn to center.
The 4-1 decision over Brandeis improved Tufts' overall record to 6-13 while dropping the Judges to 11-15. The Jumbos will next be in action this weekend at Huskins Field, hosting Middlebury in a four-game series that begins with a doubleheader tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.
David Heck contributed reporting to this article.
