LA VERNE, CA (March 23, 2023) -- Senior outfielder
Jackson Duffy homered and fellow senior
Jimmy Evans posted three hits but the Tufts University baseball team was topped 4-2 in non-conference play by host University of La Verne in play from Ben Hines Field.
The Jumbos (5-3) threatened in the top of the second inning, as
Connor Flavin singled while
Connor Davidson doubled to put runners on second and third with one out. Tufts would strand both runners, and La Verne capitalized by tallying one in the bottom half to take a 1-0 lead on a RBI single by Noah Garcia.
La Verne (12-10) upped its lead to 2-0 in the fourth inning on a Logan Reese RBI double, and then made it 3-0 in the fifth on a sacrifice fly. Tufts broke up the shutout in the seventh inning, as Duffy crushed a line drive over the left field wall for his second homer of the season.
The Jumbos would follow the homer with a rally, as
Henry Fleckner singled with two outs.
Ozzie Fleischer reached on a throwing error, and
Ben Leonard was walked intentionally to load the bases. La Verne though would work out of the jam, getting a ground out to escape the jam.
The Leopards got the run right back in the bottom half of the seventh, taking advantage of a fielding error with two outs to plate their fourth run of the game.
Tufts came right back as Evans singled to start the eighth inning, and pinch runner
Owen McKiernan came around to score on a two-out, pinch-hit double by
Todd Stawiecki. Tufts sent the tying run to the plate once again, but the Jumbos' inning came to an end on a foul out.
In the ninth inning, Tufts would go down 1-2-3 to close out the game against ULV closer Chase Pederson.
Evans was 3-for-4 on the afternoon, while Flavin finished with two hits as well in three at-bats. Leonard was 1-for-4 with a walk as well for the Jumbos, who finished with 10 hits on the day.
The Jumbos started with
Gavin Brown, who worked a scoreless frame before handing the ball to
Hunter Beindorff. The junior allowed two runs in three innings,
Jack Chapleski allowed two hits and a run in one inning of relief and
Matt Donato struck out two as he worked a scoreless sixth inning.
Justin Wells finished the game, allowing an unearned run while fanning two for the Jumbos.
Garcia led the Leopards with four hits in five at-bats, while Cameron Slessor and Malachi Francois each had two hits as well. Ryan McLernon got the win, allowing six hits over six scoreless innings.
Tufts will begin a three-game set with No. 5 Chapman University Friday at 3 p.m. local time in action from Orange, CA.
--JUMBOS--
