Coming off a week of wins against Colby College and MIT, Tufts baseball lost two of three games in a series against Amherst College this weekend.
The Jumbos traveled to the Mammoths’ homefield to face off in a Friday afternoon game and a doubleheader on Saturday. They won the first game, 10–5, then narrowly dropped both games on Saturday, 3–2 and 9–8, respectively.
The Jumbos are third in the NESCAC East division, 3–3 within the conference and 18–7 overall.
Tufts was first on the board in its Friday game with a two-run home run by first-year left fielder Tate Bannish to score sophomore right fielder Jack Kamin.
Senior pitcher Cole Donato started off strong, but allowed a single after getting the first two outs quickly. The runner then advanced to third on consecutive throwing errors and wild pitches, setting up for a double to right center that put the Mammoths on the board.
For the Jumbos, adrenaline kept pumping in the second — junior first baseman Max Pavlik began with a first-pitch single up the middle, and first-year third baseman Tom Pender doubled to advance him to third. A walk to junior center fielder Caden Abraham loaded the bases and Pavlik scored on a sacrifice fly by senior second baseman Jesse McCullough.
Sophomore shortstop James Henshon reached base on a fielder’s choice, letting Pender score and extending the Jumbos’ lead to 4–1. Tufts also recorded a stolen base and a walk in the second. Donato allowed a single in the bottom of the inning, but an infield double play evaded further threat to the Jumbos.
The Jumbos had more to give in the third; senior catcher Malcolm Whitfield walked, then stole a base to start off the inning, advancing to third on a single by senior DH Owen McKiernan. Pender doubled to left, bringing in two runs. A single from McCullough brought Pender home. McCullough and Henshon stole a base each, but could not score any more runs. Tufts 7, Amherst 1.
Tufts tacked on two more runs in the fifth and seventh; McCullough scored Pender on a fielding error and Henshon scored Pender on an RBI single, respectively. Their final run came in the eighth — Bannish knocked a lead-off single to left field, and a double from McKiernan brought him home.
Despite the action in the early innings, Donato kept it neat, only allowing one run in seven innings. The Mammoths scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth, three charged to first-year pitcher Max Williams and one to sophomore pitcher Lachlan Ellis.
Saturday morning the Jumbos sent sophomore Emmet Christian to the mound for the first game of the day. He held down the fort in the first two innings while the Jumbos offense knocked two hits but left runners on base.
With one out in the third, Henshon doubled down the left field line. Kamin singled through the left side to put a run on the board for Tufts. Amherst struck back in the bottom of the inning, with a double and a single to match Tufts.
The Jumbos rallied again in the top of the sixth with a single by junior first baseman AJ Lysko, followed by another single from Pavlik. McCullough singled through the left side for Lysko to score and gave Tufts the lead.
Amherst surprisingly pulled through in the seventh off sophomore pitcher Derek Desmarais, who relieved junior pitcher Mitchell Hwang. He gave up two doubles and a single, but it was enough for the Mammoths to score two runs and give them the win.
For the third game of the series, junior pitcher Michael O’Brien took the mound. Neither team had significant action in the first two innings, but the Jumbos rallied in the third. McCullough singled to right field, and Kamin brought him home with a double to right center. Pender then singled to score Kamin, giving the Jumbos a two-run lead.
Amherst held fort until the seventh, when a lead-off single by Abraham kicked off a six-run inning. McCullough reached on a fielding error, then a Henshon single through the right side scored Abraham. Kamin also knocked a single, scoring McCullough and Henshon.
Bannish hit a third consecutive single to the right side, then a double by Pender scored Kamin. An infield error put Lysko on first and scored Bannish. However, Lysko was caught stealing at second, ending the rally. Tufts 8, Amherst 0.
Amherst also rallied in the seventh, putting up eight runs — five charged to O’Brien, two to junior pitcher Ronan Hwang and one to Ellis. At the end of the seventh, Tufts and Amherst were tied at eight runs apiece.
Back-to-back singles in the ninth put a runner on second for Amherst, and a third one to follow walked off the game with a lead and a series win for Amherst.
“NESCAC games are always going to be the toughest game on the schedule. We play them every year and really get to know each other’s tendencies very well,” Lysko wrote in a message to the Daily. “We’ve been aggressive and have a good approach, sometimes things just don’t fall your way.”
Tufts beat Endicott on Sunday, 11–6. On Wednesday, the Jumbos lost 2–1 against the Babson Beavers. They will travel to Lewiston, Maine this weekend to play Bates in their final full week of the season.
