The baseball team had a busy spring break, playing 11 games in nine days in Virginia before flying back to Tufts yesterday with a 6-5 record and high hopes heading into NESCAC play.
"We knew it was going to be a challenge," junior tri-captain Christian Sbily said. "Our expectation was that everybody was going to have to play and step in and guys were going to have to step up."
The week started off well for the Jumbos as they reeled five straight victories, dominating against Castleton, 13-4 and 14-4. The team benefited from a lethal combination of timely hitting and sharp pitching, as well as hard work from players across the board.
"One of the keys to our hot streak was our situational play," Sbily said. "Guys, if they had a job to do, if they had to lay a bunt down or make a pitch, they did what they had to do."
In the following matchup, freshman pitcher Andrew David turned in a memorable first outing as a Jumbo, allowing three hits and striking out seven on his way to a complete game shutout in a 4-0 win over Guilford. David was not alone in impressive pitching performances to start the year, as the staff combined to allow only nine runs in its first four games, while the offense piled up 33.
However, the team ran into trouble against Greensboro in the second game of a doubleheader. The team had just squeaked out an 11-10 victory over Averett earlier that day behind a four-RBI performance from sophomore designated hitter Bryan Egan, but against Greensboro, the Jumbos were unable to reproduce that winning formula. Tufts fell in 13 innings, 5-4, despite a second strong performance from sophomore pitcher Kyle Slinger, who went six innings while striking out six and allowing one run.
"Averett was a long game, and then Greensboro was just so hard-fought," Sbily said. "That was a tough loss, going 13 innings, it was late at night and freezing cold. We had some younger guys pitching for us, so that was a tough one."
The loss against Greensboro began a rough patch for the Jumbos, who finished off spring break just 1-5 over their last six, including three losses by one run. While the competition was stronger for the latter half of break, Sbily and the team did not see that as an excuse and took some positives from their losses.
"We definitely played some better teams later on, but that being said, all but two of our losses were by one run," Sbily said. "The only game we really got beat [in] was against Lynchburg. Other than that, we were right in every game, and we just need to learn how to bring tenacity every game."
Despite the losses, this young Tufts team still has a lot to look forward to as the NESCAC season approaches. Sophomore third baseman Wade Hauser, who was selected to the All-NESCAC Second Team, has continued his hot hitting into this year, batting .400 with 12 runs scored and getting a hit in all 10 games he has played in this year. Also impressive has been senior infielder Scott Staniewicz, hitting .439 with three stolen bases.
If the team can continue to produce both in the field and at the plate, by the time NESCAC play rolls around, the Jumbos hope that some of those close losses that marked their spring break will begin to turn into wins.
