WATERVILLE, ME (May 13, 2023) -- The Tufts University baseball team is one step closer to its seventh New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) title, as the Jumbos used back-to-back three-run frames in the fourth and fifth inning to rally for an 8-4 win in the NESCAC Tournament winner's bracket game at Colby College's Coombs Field.
The Jumbos (30-9) are looking for their first NESCAC title since 2019 and its league-leading seventh in conference history after Saturday's victory, as Tufts will take on either host Colby or Middlebury College at 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning in the title game. The Jumbos will need to win just once on Sunday, while the team advancing to Sunday's final day will need to best Tufts twice for the league championship.
It was the Panthers (26-10) that got on the board first in the bottom of the second, as Alec Ritch singled in a pair of runs to break the scoreless tie. In the bottom of the third, Mitchell Schroeder blasted a two-out solo shot to left field to up the Middlebury lead up to 3-0.
It would be all Tufts from that point though, responding quickly with three runs on one swing as
Connor Davidson stayed hot with a three-run shot to left field to push around both
Ben Leonard and
Connor Bowman to tie the game. Tufts hurler
Silas Reed posted a big shutdown inning in the bottom of the fourth, setting up another big inning for the Jumbos.
Henry Fleckner started the top of the fifth with a single up the middle, followed by a single from first-year
Jesse McCullough to put runners at first and third with no outs.
Jimmy Evans stepped up and ripped a two-run double to left-center to put the Jumbos on top for the first time. Later in the inning with one out,
Patrick Solomon pushed across another run with a sacrifice fly to make it 6-3.
Reed would continue his strong start, retiring eight batters in a row at one point before working out of a jam in the bottom of the sixth to keep Tufts ahead by three. Senior
Aidan Tucker would relieve Reed in the seventh, holding off the Panthers and Tufts added two more runs in the top of the ninth on a two-run blast by Bowman to make it 8-3.
Middlebury got a leadoff homer in the bottom of the ninth by Lucas Flemming, but Tucker worked out of a bases loaded jam to pick up his third save of the season.
Leonard was 4-for-4 with a run scored, adding a double and two stolen bases, while McCullough tallied three hits, a double and two runs scored along with a stolen base. Bowman was 2-for-5 with two RBI and two runs, while Davidson was 1-for-3 with two walks in the victory. The 13 hits were tied for the second-most in a game this season for Tufts.
Reed went six strong, allowing four hits and three earned while fanning 10 batters in the win as he moved to 6-1. Tucker allowed just one run on three hits while striking out five.
Ritch was 2-for-5 with two RBI for the Panthers in the loss.
--JUMBOS--
