Box Score MEDFORD – Freshman pitcher Aidan Tucker went the distance and classmate Peter DeMaria was 3 for 5 with two doubles and two rbis as the Tufts University baseball team won 4-1 at Colby College in a NESCAC East game Friday.
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| Freshman Aidan Tucker hurled a complete-game victory for the Jumbos. |
Tucker, the current NESCAC Pitcher of the Week, allowed six hits and one run in his nine innings to improve his season record to 5-0. The win was the 20th of the year for the Jumbos (20-5, 6-1 NESCAC East). Junior CF Will Phillips and sophomore catcher Ryan Hecht had two hits for Colby (8-13, 0-7).
After they were unable to capitalize on a one-out double by junior CF Justin Mills in the first, the Jumbos got on the board in the second. Junior 3B JP Knight led off with a double and went to third when junior RF Ryan Day singled. Senior SS Will Shackelford hit a sacrifice fly to right scoring the game's first run.
Colby tied it in the second as Hect singled and stole second. After a walk to sophomore 3B Tommy McGee, both advanced a base on a ground out to first. Hecht scored on another ground ball to first by senior RF Jackson Ward.
The Jumbos quickly regained the lead after two were out in the third. Senior LF Casey Santos-Ocampo had singled with one out and scored on an rbi double by DeMaria making it 2-1. The Jumbos left the bases loaded in the inning. Tufts then added one in the fifth with DeMaria in the middle of it again. He singled to lead off and went to second on a single by Day. Senior catcher Harrison Frickman followed with a base hit scoring the run, giving Tufts a 3-1 advantage. Day was out trying to advance to third on the play which proved costly as Shackelford followed with a base hit.
However, DeMaria would provide another run as the Jumbos built the lead to 4-1 in the sixth. Mills singled and stole second and then with two outs DeMaria doubled again to put the guests up 4-1.
Tucker had not allowed a hit from the third through fifth innings and only let one Mule touch second base over the final seven innings. Ward doubled with one out for Colby in the seventh, but Tucker got a strikeout and a come-backer to leave him there. When Phillips led off the eighth with a single, Tucker threw a double play ball.
Senior Will Cohen kept the Mules within striking distance with 3.1 innings of scoreless relief. He allowed just two hits and struck out five. Sophomore Frank Driscoll took the loss (2.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R).
Tufts finished with 13 hits as Mills, Knight, Day and Shackelford all had two.
The double-header between the teams scheduled for tomorrow was postponed until May 4. The Jumbos play next at Suffolk on Tuesday. Colby welcomes Maine-Presque Island to Waterville on Monday.
