NEW LONDON, CT (May 19, 2023) -- The No. 17 Tufts University baseball team led host Mitchell College 5-3 heading into the eighth inning, but the Mariners rallied back with three runs over the final two innings to take the 2023 NCAA Division III Tournament opener for both teams 6-5 in play from Mitchell Baseball Field Friday afternoon.
With the loss, Tufts (31-10) will now have to make a quick turnaround to take on Husson University at 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning in an elimination game after Husson fell to top-seed Wheaton College 11-3 in the opener on Friday afternoon.
Tufts and Mitchell exchanged zeros in the early few frames before Mitchell got on the board in the top of the third as Angel Galindez singled to right field to bring around Justin Adorno who had singled to lead off the frame. Tufts only posted one hit through the first four innings, as
Connor Davidson singled in his first at-bat in the second inning, and Mitchell added on another run in the top of the fifth as Dougie DelaCrez doubled in a run to make it 2-0.
The Jumbos would respond though in the bottom of the fifth, as sophomore
Ben Leonard doubled to center field to get the inning underway.
Patrick Solomon reached on an infield single, and then was caught stealing during the next at-bat but the action allowed Leonard to scamper home to get the Jumbos on the board.
The Mariners answered the run from Tufts with one of their own, as Adorno doubled in a run with two outs to push the Mitchell lead back out to two at 3-1. The exchanging of runs continued into the bottom of the sixth, as
Henry Fleckner connected on his third homer of the season over the left field wall to make it 3-2.
Jesse McCullough walked and
Connor Bowman singled to put runners at first and second. Davidson walked with two outs to load the bases, but the Jumbos would leave the bases full.
Tufts gained its first lead of the game in the bottom of the seventh as
Ozzie Fleischer singled to right field to get the rally going.
Connor Flavin was hit by a pitch, and both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt from Fleckner. Tufts would tie the game on a fielder's choice by McCullough on the next batter, and
Jimmy Evans put Tufts on top with a two-run double to make the score 5-3 heading to the eighth inning.
The hosts responded with two runs in the top of the eighth as Galindez blooped a two-run single with two outs to deadlock the game in the eighth.
The ninth inning saw Mitchell post another run on a bases loaded hit by pitch for the eventual game-winning run. In the bottom half, Flavin reached on a throwing error and went to second on a bunt. Evans was walked intentionally and the Mariners got out of the jam with a fielder's choice ground ball to third.
Fleischer and Leonard each finished 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Fleckner was 1-for-3 with a RBI and run scored.
On the mound,
Silas Reed started and went five innings as he tossed 91 pitches while allowing four hits and two earned runs, walking three and fanning three Mariner hitters. The Tufts bullpen allowed four runs and four hits while walking six in their four innings.
DelaCruz was 3-for-5 for Mitchell, while Galindez was 2-for-5 with three RBI and Adorno added two hits, two RBI and two runs in the win. Tyler Daly earned the win in relief, allowing one hit and one walk over 2.2 innings of work.
Weather could be an issue on Saturday, so check back at gotuftsjumbos.com for more information Saturday morning for schedule changes.
--JUMBOS--
