Written by Jack Ross, Tufts Athletics Communications Intern
MEDFORD MA (April 6th, 2024) - The Tufts University baseball team faced off against Bates College on Saturday and were looking to take both games in the doubleheader. The Jumbos fell short in the first game 10-9 in extra innings but bounced back with a commanding 5-0 win in a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) twinbill.
Game 1: Bates 10, Tufts 9
The visiting Bobcats (10-8) pounded out 13 hits in game one and managed to hold off the Jumbos in a very close game.
The Jumbos came out very strong in the first inning and put up three runs and held Bates to only one run in the opening frame. Bates however took complete control from the second to the fourth inning and tallied up five runs across the three innings and held Tufts to no runs to give Bates the commanding 6-3 lead.
The Jumbos desperately needed a response in the fifth and they got it with a single into left field from
Malachi Pena that brought both
Ben Leonard and
Ozzie Fleischer home. Tufts would add to the lead later in the inning when
Owen McKiernan hit a single into right-center that would bring Jesse Mccullough home to tie the game up at six a piece. Bates came out swinging in the bottom of the fifth and got two more runs to put them back up with a score of 8-6.
The sixth inning started out with a bang as Fleischer hit a homer into left field which also brought
Malcolm Whitfield home to tie the game up. No one scored in the seventh inning but the eighth and final inning started with another home run. This time it was
Connor Flavin who hit a ball deep into left-center and put the Jumbos back up by one.
Bates needed a response in the bottom of the eighth to win the game and they did by getting one run early and then another run by Liam Yardley hitting a walk-off single to right field which brought Brennan Kelly home.
Pena finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Fleischer finished 2-for-3 with two RBI.
Game 2: Tufts 5, Bates 0
Tufts came back after the game one loss with a commanding game two win, holding Bates to no runs.
Silas Reed tossed a complete game for Tufts, posting the most strikeouts in a game over the last 25 seasons for the Jumbos with 17 total. The 17 Ks were the second-most in a game this season in Division III, as he also allowed just three hits and walked three.
The first two innings were scoreless and neither team had any sort of an edge. The third inning however started out with a home run to left field from Fleischer to put the Jumbos on the board. The Jumbos scored again in the third with a double to center field from Pena to bring junior
Henry Fleckner home to give the Jumbos a 2-0 lead.
The Jumbos tacked on another run in the fourth with a Whitfield home run into left field to give Tufts a commanding 3-0 lead. The fifth inning remained scoreless but the sixth brought another home run. This time it was Flavin with a bomb into deep center field to add to the Jumbos lead.
One final run was added to the lead in the seventh inning to cap off a dominant performance for the Jumbos.
Flavin finished 1-for-2 with one home run. Both Whitfield and Fleischer finished 1-for-3 with one home run each. Pena finished 1-for-4 with one home run.
The Jumbos (11-8) return to the diamond tomorrow at 12 PM local time to face Bates one final time this season.
--JUMBOS--
