Box Score MEDFORD - The Tufts baseball team won the NESCAC East Division pennant for the third straight season and eighth time overall after sweeping Colby College in a double-header on Saturday 12-4 and 5-2.
Head coach John Casey's Jumbos improved to 8-0 in the division and 21-4 overall with a three-game weekend sweep of the Mules, which includes a 7-6 win in 10 innings on Friday. The Jumbos will be the host team for the 2016 NESCAC Championship to be played at Holman Stadium in Nashua, N.H. May 13-15.
Colby dropped to 10-18 overall and out of contention for a berth into the conference tournament at 3-6 in the NESCAC East. Trinity College will be the #2 seed out of the East with a 7-5 mark.
In today's games, Tommy O'Hara had five rbis including a grand slam in the Jumbos' 12-4 win in the seven-inning opener. Andrew David pitched a complete game for the win in the 5-2 nightcap.
A three-run home run by Dan Kelly highlighted a five-run first inning for Tufts in game one. O'Hara also had an rbi single andCody McCallum doubled and scored on a wild pitch in the first for the Jumbos. Nick Falkson singled and scored on a sac fly byHarrison Frickman in the Tufts third making it 6-0.
Jumbo starter Speros Varinos allowed just one hit through four innings before allowing a lead-off home run to Colby's Daniel Csaplar in the fifth. However, O'Hara's grand slam busted open a five-run fifth that gave the Jumbos an 11-1 lead. Oscar Kutch also had an rbi base hit in the fifth.
Varinos also gave up a run in the sixth on a two-out, pinch-hit rbi single by Noah Tocci. The Tufts junior would earn his fifth win going six innings allowing just three hits and two runs with 11 strikeouts and two walks.
Matt Moser singled home a run in the sixth for Tufts and the Mules plated two runs in the top of the seventh on rbi groundouts by Grant Lowenstein and Matt Treveloni to complete the scoring.
O'Hara finished game one 2 for 5 with five rbis and two runs scored. Christian Zazzali had two hits while Kutch, Moser, and Frickman all scored twice.
Soren Hanson took the game-one pitching loss for Colby. Tufts compiled 11 hits off four Mules hurlers.
David allowed six hits and two runs with nine strikeouts and a walk in his game-two win for the Jumbos, improving to 3-0. He gave up both runs in the top of the first, including a home run to Colby's first batter of the game as Tommy Forese hit one out to right. Matt Garcia later doubled to right-center and scored on a single by Csaplar. Otherwise, David allowed just four base runners from the second through the seventh and finished off the win with back-to-back strikeouts in the ninth.
Kelly was again a big part of the offense for Tufts in game two. He walked and scored on a base hit by Harry Brown in the second to pull Tufts within 2-1. He also singled and scored in both the fourth and fifth innings. Three Colby errors led to two runs in the fourth, and a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Brown scored both of the runs in the fifth.
After going 2 for 3 with three runs in the second game, Kelly finished the day 4 for 5 with a home run, four runs and three rbis.
Will Cohen was the losing pitcher in game two for Colby.
The Jumbos get right back at it tomorrow when they travel to Keene State for a pair starting at 1 pm. Colby is off until beginning a NESCAC East series at Bates College next Friday at 3 pm.
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