WATERVILLE, ME (May 12, 2023) -- The No. 23 Tufts University baseball team pushed across eight runs in the second inning, as the explosion helped the Jumbos knock off Bowdoin College 13-6 in the opening round of the 2023 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Tournament in action from Coombs Field on the campus of Colby College.
Tufts, which is playing as the top seed in the tournament, will now move on to battle Middlebury College at 2 p.m. Saturday in the winner's bracket after the Panthers rallied to defeat Colby, 7-6.
The Jumbos (29-9) wasted no time getting on the board Friday evening, as
Henry Fleckner started the game for Tufts with a double down the right field line, coming around to score on an RBI triple from senior
Jimmy Evans.
Tufts would put the game out of reach early on in the contest, as
Connor Davidson doubled to drive in
Ben Leonard to make the score 2-0. After the Jumbos got two more runs on ground balls,
Jesse McCullough delivered a RBI single to push the Tufts advantage to 5-0 with one out.
An error kept the frame alive for the Jumbos, and Leonard made the Polar Bears pay with a two-run double down the left field line to up the Tufts lead to seven runs. Davidson continued the inning with his second run-scoring hit of the frame, as he singled to center field to score both
Connor Bowman and Leonard to cap the inning with Tufts up 9-0.
Stephen Simoes would get two back with a two-run shot over the right field wall for Bowdoin, and the Polar Bears got even closer after a three-run blast in the top of the fifth to make the score 10-5 in favor of the Jumbos.
Tufts answered the three runs from Bowdoin with three of its own, as McCullough scored a run with a fly ball and Bowman hammered a two-run double to make it 13-5. The Polar Bears scored one in the top of the seventh, but wouldn't get any closer as
Cameron Mayer worked three scoreless innings to pick up the save.
Davidson finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored, while Bowman added a 2-for-5 night with a pair of runs driven in. Leonard finished 1-for-4 with two runs and two RBI, while Evans was 1-for-3 with two runs and a stolen base.
Fleckner was 1-for-4 with two runs scored, and
Ozzie Fleischer and
Connor Flavin each scored a pair of runs in the win.
Connor Kinney moved to 5-0 on the season, scattering eight hits and six runs while fanning four to get the win. Mayer struck out six of the nine batters he got out, allowing three hits in his outing for Tufts.
Simoes was 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI to pace the Polar Bears (18-14).
Bowdoin and Colby will play at 10:30 a.m. in an elimination game, with the winner of that contest playing the loser of the Tufts-Middlebury game 45 minutes after the conclusion of that contest.
--JUMBOS--
