MEDFORD, MA (April 7, 2024) - The Tufts University men's baseball team continued New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play today as they played in the rubber match of their three-game set against Bates College. The series was moved to Tufts University due to the weather in Maine where the Bobcats play.
The Jumbos (12-8) gave the ball to grad student Gavin Brown (2-1) who had a 4.32 era coming into today's game. He brought his era down to 3.57 today after a great outing. Brown pitched six strong innings today punching out six batters, giving up six hits and two walks. In the bottom of the first inning, he captured his first two strikeouts of the day. In the bottom of the second Brown sat down the Bobcats in order to pick up two more strikeouts to his day.
The Jumbo offense had a great day in the batter's box. They had 12 runs on 12 hits with three homers. Their offense would not get going until the top of the third when senior catcher Connor Brala hit his first of two homers on the day to give the Jumbos a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth, the Jumbos would add four runs to blow the score open. The inning was highlighted by a leadoff blast to left field by sophomore Jesse McCullough to give the Jumbos a 2-0 lead. The home run from McCullough was the first homer of his career. The Jumbos got another run from senior Patrick Solomon who brought in fellow junior Henry Fleckner on a deep sacrifice fly to center field to give the Jumbos a 3-0 lead. The Jumbos got their last run of the inning on a RBI single by Ozzie Fleischer that scored grad student Connor Flavin to give the Jumbos a 5-0 lead, Flavin was hit by a pitch earlier in the inning.
The Jumbos would add another run in the top of the fifth then added three runs in the top of the sixth to extend their lead to 9-0. The Bobcats added their first run of the game in the bottom of the sixth as they scored on an RBI single by Brandon Biggane.
The Jumbos would add a run of their own in the top of the seventh as senior John Fritz brought home Brala on an RBI single to give the Jumbos a 10-1 lead. The Bobcats would add a run in the seventh and eighth innings to bring their deficit to 10-3.
In the top of the ninth, Brala hit his second homer of the game to give the Jumbos a 12-3 score. Sophomore Patrick Fanning came in to work the ninth inning adding a strikeout and securing a victory and a series win for the Jumbos.
Solomon and Fleischer finished the day 2-4 and junior Ben Leonard had an RBI and scored a run.
The Jumbos will be back in action Tuesday, April 9, as they travel to Beverly Mass to take on No. 1 ranked non-conference foe Endicott College, first pitch is scheduled for 3:30 P.M.
-JUMBOS-
