Both the Tufts baseball team (15−3 overall, 5−1 NESCAC East) and the visiting Colby Mules (9−8 overall, 0−6 NESCAC East) entered this weekend's NESCAC East matchup having played excellent baseball over the previous couple of weeks; Tufts came in with eight wins in its last nine games, while Colby was riding a six−game winning streak. Clearly, something would have to give.
After patiently waiting out the inclement weather on Friday afternoon, the Jumbos outscored the Mules 23−10 over three games on Saturday and Sunday, completing a resounding sweep of their conference foes.
The series finale was the highlight of the weekend for Tufts, as the team's powerful offense backed a stellar effort from junior Pat O'Donnell on the mound en route to an 11−1 rout.
O'Donnell improved to 3−1 on the season by hurling eight innings of one−run ball, during which he allowed just seven hits and two walks. The righty struck out three batters and pitched to contact effectively, helping the contest move at a brisk pace.
Meanwhile, the lineup made quick work of Colby's starter, sophomore Connor Sullivan, who lasted just 2.1 innings, surrendering five runs on four hits and four walks. Sullivan served up the lone long ball of the weekend, as sophomore second baseman Sam Sager launched a booming solo home run over the centerfield fence leading off the third.
Junior Ben Walkley had two doubles and four RBIs in the contest, pacing both of the Jumbos' biggest rallies of the afternoon, a three−run first frame and a four−run sixth. Walkley now leads all of Tufts' regulars with a .455 batting average, nine doubles, a .571 on−base percentage and a .727 slugging mark on the season.
"Coach [John Casey] always talks about going up there with a game plan — an idea of what you want to look for and what the situation calls for in the game," Walkley said. "I had had a couple of poor at−bats earlier in the series, so I really wanted to focus in and look for my pitch in the third game. I was able to make some adjustments from my earlier at−bats, made the pitchers throw a lot of pitches to help the team and got the ones I liked. It was definitely good to help the team in that sense."
The Jumbos had a significantly harder time scoring runs during the seven−inning early game on Sunday, registering just six hits to the Mules' nine, even though Tufts ultimately came out on the right end of a 2−1 pitchers' duel. Junior lefty Derek Miller shut out the Mules for four innings before finally yielding a run in the fifth, picking up his second win of the season by saving his best pitches for the toughest jams.
"I didn't think this was my best outing in terms of limiting base runners," Miller said. "But I thought we played great defense and had timely hitting, and I was able to limit the damage."
Colby's starter, junior Dominick Morrill, was the tough−luck loser, pitching a six−inning complete game and striking out eight.
Tufts picked up a run in the first on an RBI single by junior outfielder Ian Goldberg, which plated classmate and tri−captain David Leresche, who led off the game with a walk and stole second. Tufts scored again in the third when Walkley smacked a two−out double and was driven home by junior first baseman Nate Bankoff.
A leadoff walk finally led to Colby's only run in the top of the fifth, as sophomore pinch−hitter Will Greenberg drew the free pass and came around to score on a single by senior first baseman Ryan Conlon.
Junior Ed Bernstein and sophomore Chris DeGoti each tossed a scoreless inning in relief of Miller, with the latter picking up his sixth save of the season. Bernstein, who pitched 2.2 innings last week and did not allow a run, was recently named the NESCAC Pitcher of the Week for his lockdown relief efforts.
The Mules had the tying run at third base and the go−ahead run at first in the final frame, but DeGoti induced a harmless grounder to third from sophomore third baseman Mike Mastrocola, Colby's leading RBI man, to finish it off.
Friday's contest, which the Jumbos came from behind to win 10−8, was the worst played of the three, but was arguably the most exciting. The Mules chased Tufts sophomore starter Dave Ryan in the fifth inning, during which they batted around, collected seven hits and jumped out to a 7−4 lead. Ryan was on the hook for his first loss of the season after surrendering eight hits and a walk in 4.1 innings of work.
But after Colby tacked on another run in the sixth against freshman reliever Alex Cronkite, the Jumbos found a groove at the plate. Tufts' second three−run outburst of the game forced the Mules to turn to their bullpen, as senior starter Matt Moore departed without recording an out in the sixth. Moore was ultimately charged with seven runs in five innings; he did not strike out or walk a batter.
An RBI groundout by senior tri−captain catcher Alex Perry and a two−run single by junior second baseman Frank Petroskey brought the Jumbos to within one. Senior Tom Hill and junior Ed Bernstein then held Colby scoreless through the eighth, when the offense found a way to pull the Jumbos ahead.
Walkley pinch−hit and drew a base on balls to get the wheels in motion and eventually scored when Goldberg was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Sager then drew a walk to bring in the go−ahead run, while Bankoff subsequently was hit by a pitch to give DeGoti an extra run to work with in the ninth.
DeGoti nailed down the 10−8 victory with a scoreless frame, allowing only a single and never putting the lead in doubt.
Tufts will return to action at Huskins Field in a pivotal three−game series against the defending NESCAC champion Trinity Bantams (13−4 overall, 6−3 NESCAC East) on Friday at 3 p.m. A doubleheader will follow on Saturday at noon. The Jumbos have dropped their last eight meetings against Trinity, but they are confident that the momentum of 11 wins in their past 12 games will breed success in the biggest matchup of the season so far.
"This was an important series for us, and we knew we needed to sweep Colby with Trinity and Bowdoin coming up," Miller said. "Trinity is a great team, and we're going to need to keep playing as well as we have so far. It has been a great series the past few years, and hopefully it'll go our way this time."
"We are going to need everyone to contribute this weekend," Walkley added. "I know that we have all been looking forward to this weekend series for a while, and just taking it one game at a time and not settling for anything less than our best is crucial."
