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Sophomore Eric Weikert's home runs were the game-winning rbis in both contests
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MEDFORD - The Tufts baseball team earned its second straight #1 seed in the NESCAC East Division heading into the conference tournament with a doubleheader sweep over Bowdoin College on Saturday afternoon at Huskins Field. Sophomore DH Eric Weikert (Avondale Estates, GA) hit a two-run home run in each game, and senior Derek Miller (Whitman, MA) pitched superbly in game two as Tufts took 7-5 and 5-0 victories.
The 17th ranked Jumbos improved to 22-6-1 overall and won the NESCAC East with an 11-1 mark. Bowdoin, which has also qualified for the conference championship, dropped to 20-10 overall and 8-3 in the NESCAC East. The conference tournament is slated for May 13-15 at Amherst College.
Weikert hit a two-run home run to right field in the bottom of the fourth in game one to give the Jumbos a 6-5 lead. Relievers Christian Sbily (Gaithersburg, MD) and Ed Bernstein (Foxborough, MA) kept Bowdoin off the scoreboard over the final three innings. Senior CF David Orlowitz (Wakefield, MA) homered for an insurance run in the sixth.
After a scoreless first, both teams had put three runs across the plate in the second. Bowdoin did its damage after two were out. A single by senior 1B Dan Hicks (New York, NY) and a walk to sophomore catcher Dan Findley (Duxbury, MA) led to a run-scoring base hit by senior 2B Adam Marquit (New York, NY). Junior shortstop Jordan Edgett (Lynn, MA) then brought two runs home with a double down the left field line.
Senior LF Ian Goldberg (Lake Forest, IL) led off the Tufts third with a double and scored on a single by sophomore 1B Tom Howard (Rockville Centre, NY). With two outs, senior SS David LeResche (St. Louis, MO) doubled home Howard and then scored on a single by Orlowitz for a 3-3 tie.
Goldberg and Howard combined again in the third with a double and a rbi single, respectively, for a 4-3 Tufts lead. Bowdoin surged back ahead at 5-4 on back-to-back rbi singles by freshman CF John Lefeber (Branford, CT) and Edgett.
Tufts got 2.1 innings of two-hit relief from Sbily, who earned the win. Bernstein picked up his sixth save with a 1-2-3 seventh. Goldberg finished 2 for 3 with two runs for Tufts, while Howard was 2 for 3 with two rbi and a run scored. Orlowitz also had two of Tufts' 11 hits and finished with two rbi and a run.
Lefeber and Edgett had three hits each at the top of the Bowdoin order, with Edgett driving home three runs. Lefeber scored a run and drove one in. Marquit scored twice for the Polar Bears. Sophomore starter Oliver Van Zant (Westport, CT) took the loss, allowing nine hits and six earned runs in 3.2 innings.
In the second game, Miller allowed four hits and no runs in eight innings of work for his third victory. In the third inning with no score, he cut down a Bowdoin runner at third base on a come-backer. With the bases loaded and two out later in the inning, he kept the visitors from scoring by recording another out on a ball hit back to the mound.
In the bottom of the third, Weikert lauched his second home run of the day and third of the season well over the right field fence for a 2-0 Tufts lead. Those were the only runs allowed by Lefeber, Bowdoin's game-two starter who allowed six hits with six strikeouts and two walks over seven innings.
After a lead-off walk in the top of the fifth, Miller retired 12 straight Polar Bears. The Jumbos added three runs in the bottom of the eighth, including rbi singles by senior RF Chase Rose (Paradise Valley, AZ) and Howard. Miller walked Bowdoin's lead-off batter in the ninth and was replaced by Bernstein, who retired the side and has not given up an earned run in 21.2 innings this season.
Weikert finished game two 3 for 4 with two rbi and a run scored. Howard was 2 for 4 with an rbi. No one on the Bowdoin side had multiple hits.
Tufts will play a non-league game at Eastern Connecticut on Monday night at 7 pm. Bowdoin is at Southern Maine on Tuesday at 4 pm.
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
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