Box Score MEDFORD – Junior Chris Wood drove home the eventual game-winning run with a single to left in the top of the 10th as the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth baseball team won 9-8 at Tufts University on Sunday.
Tufts had been down to its final two outs trailing 8-5 when senior Malcolm Nachmanoff hit a three-run home run to center field to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth.
However, Corsairs catcher Brandon Polignone walked to lead off the 10th, went to second on a Tufts error and scored on Wood's base hit. In the bottom of the 10th, with the Jumbos' tying run on first base, UMass Dartmouth sophomore pitcher Nate Tellier got a strikeout to end the game.
The Corsairs had led all game prior to Nachmanoff's blast. The visitors opened the scoring in the first when Tellier walked and scored on a single by junior 1B Jose Vasquez.
The teams went back and forth scoring runs in the fifth through eighth innings. In the fifth, Tellier singled and Wood doubled to lead off the inning and both scored as the Corsairs went ahead 3-0. Freshman 2B Ryan Daues hit a two-run home run scoring junior SS Will Shackelford (walk) closing the margin for Tufts to 3-2 in the bottom of the frame.
UMD got both runs back right away in the sixth thanks to two singles, two sacrifice bunts and an outfield error by the Jumbos. Junior SS Erick Ramirez and senior 2B Josh O'Neil had the rbis giving UMD a 5-2 lead. Junior LF Casey Santos-Ocampo doubled home Nachmanoff with two outs in the bottom of the sixth for Tufts making it 5-3.
Vasquez homered with two outs in the seventh putting UMD in front 6-3. The Jumbos also got one in the seventh as sophomore catcher Ryan Day was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on a two-out single by senior 3B Tommy O'Hara closing the hosts within 6-4.
Into the eighth, UMD was again able to extend its lead as sophomore Mike Knell was hit by a pitch and scored on a single by Ramirez, who then went to third on another Jumbo outfield error during the play. He scored on a safety squeeze by O'Neil giving the Corsairs an 8-4 advantage. Tufts scratched a run across in the bottom of the inning as sophomore LF JP Knight singled and the Jumbos loaded the bases with back-to-back hit-by-pitches. Daues scored the run with a sac fly.
After Jumbo junior reliever Joe Thomas kept UMass Dartmouth off the scoreboard in the top of the ninth, a base hit by O'Hara and a walk to senior DH Mike McLaughlin in the Tufts ninth set the stage for Nachmanoff. He homered for the fourth time in the last four games tying the score at 8-8.
Tellier was 3 for 5 with two runs and an rbi, and was also the winning pitcher. Wood finished with a 5-1-2-1 batting line, while Vasquez was 2 for 4 with three rbis and a run. Knell had two hits and scored twice, while O'Neil knocked in a pair.
UMass Dartmouth used seven pitchers in the game with sophomore Dean Streich starting and going five (2H, 2R). Tellier pitched the final two frames and allowed two hits and three runs, but was able to finish the game in the ninth.
Nachmanoff was 2 for 4 with three rbis and two runs for Tufts. O'Hara went 3 for 6 with a run and an rbi, while Daues had three rbis.
Thomas took the loss in relief, allowing two hits and an unearned run.
The Jumbos host Suffolk University at Huskins on Tuesday. The Corsairs play next on Tuesday also, hosting Rhode Island College in Little East Conference action.
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