It was a long weekend for the baseball team, as Tufts played five games in four days at Huskins Field in Medford. The team defeated conference-rival Colby on Friday, 10-1, before pulling off two walk-off wins against Colby in its doubleheader on Saturday. Tufts also took both games in its doubleheader against UMass Dartmouth on Monday, 9-3 and 3-0.
The wins bring Tufts' record to 25-2 overall and 6-1 in conference play, with eight games remaining.
Junior Tom Ryan took the mound in game one on Monday, and he held the visiting Corsairs to no earned runs. His teammates staked him to an early 2-0 lead, but UMass took advantage of a pair of Tufts errors and a passed ball to push three unearned runs across the plate in the fourth and fifth innings to take the lead.
The Jumbos responded in the bottom of the fifth after three Corsairs' errors and four walks, using two-RBI base hits from junior first baseman James Howard and junior designated hitter Bryan Egan to score seven times. The Corsairs were unable to respond, and Ryan preserved the 9-3 lead to close out the game.
Sophomore Andrew David started game two for the Jumbos, hurling six shutout innings and allowing only four hits. David was pulled in the top of the seventh after walking the lead-off batter, but freshman right-hander Speros Varinos came on to retire the next three batters and pick up his second save of the season while ensuring David's third win.
Senior catcher Nick Cutsumpas, who played both games, provided the Jumbos' offense in game two, driving in all three runs. Cutsumpas finished the day 4 for 7 with four RBIs. Egan also did his part as well, going 4 for 5 with three runs and a pair of RBIs.
Over the weekend, Tufts' series with Colby proved to be far more dramatic, with both teams fighting for positioning in the NESCAC East standings.
In game one of Saturday's doubleheader, freshman Tim Superko gave Tufts 5 1/3 strong innings, allowing two runs on six hits, but was equaled by sophomore Soren Hanson, who threw eight innings of two-run ball, while striking out 12.
With the game tied at one in the fourth, sophomore shortstop Moser hit a go-ahead solo home run, but the Mules came back to tie the game in sixth. Moser was not limited to the plate on Saturday, and came into relieve Superko in the sixth, pitching four and two thirds scoreless innings and only allowing one hit as the game went into extra innings.
After setting down the Mules in order in top of the 10th, Moser sent a fastball left up in the zone by senior Dakota Rabbit to left center field, scoring senior second baseman Tim Mitropolous and winning the game.
"I knew the pitcher had been around the zone most of the game, so I was just looking for a pitch early in the count I could drive to the middle of the field," Moser said. "When I'm up at the plate I try to focus on just that at bat and treat it like any other, but there's definitely a little added motivation when you know you can help yourself and the team at the plate late in a game."
For his performance over the weekend Moser received NESCAC Player of the Week honors, becoming the second Jumbo to be recognized this season following junior pitcher Kyle Slinger last month.
Game two on Saturday proved to be just as hard-fought. Both Tufts senior co-captain Christian Sbily and Colby junior Greg Ladd threw complete games and were dominant on the mound for their respective teams, but Sbily got the upper hand with his three-hit shutout.
"I really felt that I was effective because I was able to locate my fastball well, first and foremost," said Sbily. "I was then able to keep their hitters off balance with my curveball, and I was able to get them to swing at fastballs early in the count to generate outs."
In the bottom of the seventh, with the game tied 0-0, Egan led off for the Jumbos with a double down the left field line. Freshman outfielder Harry Brown came in to pinch run for Egan and, when center fielder Cody McCallum tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt, Ladd fielded it and tried to throw Brown out at third. The throw hit Brown and rolled into foul territory, allowing Brown to score the winning run and give Tufts its second walk-off win of the day.
Before their wild wins on Saturday, the Jumbos were able to secure an easier victory on Friday, when Slinger threw eight innings, giving up just one run on five hits to pick up his NESCAC-leading seventh win in a 10-1 romp.
Tufts will continue conference play against Bowdoin this weekend with a three-game series in Brunswick, Maine.
"Obviously finishing the weekend with a sweep was great, but it does not change our mindset for the upcoming games," Sbily said. "Our job is to treat every game the same and bring the same intensity and effort every day."
