Baseball Set for NESCAC Tournament First Round at Middlebury

MEDFORD, MA (April 30, 2025) - The Tufts University baseball team secured a spot in the New England Small College Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Tournament following an emphatic win at Colby College last Sunday, meaning they will head up to Middlebury, Vermont to take on the Panthers in the first round of postseason play this Saturday.

GAME DETAILS:
NESCAC Tournament Webpage
Opponent: at Middlebury (21-10, 10-2 NESCAC West)
Date: Saturday May 3, 2025
Time: Game 1: 12:00 pm, Game 2: 3:00 pm
Location: Middlebury, VT - Middlebury Baseball & Softball Complex
Live Coverage: Live Stats - Live Video

Tufts vs. Middlebury All Time:

It has been nearly a year since the last time these two programs met on the diamond, with the Panthers taking the last meeting on May 12, 2024 with a 9-2 win to clinch the 2024 NESCAC Championship while the Jumbos looked on. The Jumbos hold a 23-16 record all-time against Middlebury, including three wins in the last five games.
 
A Look at the Jumbos (14-19, 6-6 NESCAC East):

Tufts battled through an up-and-down regular season for the fourth spot in the NESCAC East Division. They enter the postseason with a team batting average of .272 with a .387 team slugging percentage and .369 on base percentage.

Senior Cooper Smith leads the Jumbos in average with a .355 mark through 28 games played. He batted for a .421 slugging with a home run and 19 RBI. The speedy outfielder swiped six bags for the third most on the team, and has played a very clean outfield throughout the season.

Freshman James Henshon has emerged as a key factor for the Jumbos throughout his rookie season. The hard-hitting third baseman hit for a .333 average with an .871 OPS and 20 RBI to his name. Henshon has started in 32 games for Tufts this year, and will continue to feature as not only an offensive centerpiece but as a plus defender in the hot corner as well.

Senior Ben Leonard was the slugging leader for Tufts this season as he led the team with seven home runs and 23 RBI. He holds an OPS of 1.048 to lead the Jumbos and the ninth best OPS in the NESCAC. Fellow senior Henry Fleckner has gotten hot in recent weeks to help assist Leonard's slugging efforts. The dynamic two-sport athlete finished the regular season with a .287 average and a .758 OPS with two homers and 12 RBI. 

Max Pavlik and Ozzie Fleischer have both made significant contributions at the plate this season, with Pavlik totalling 23 RBIs on a .723 OPS and Fleischer driving in 19 RBI on .219 hitting.

On the mound, the Jumbos will rely on the efforts of their three-heading starting rotation. Graduate student Silas Reed enters the postseason with the most experience of any starter. His regular season ended with a 4.05 ERA after a few shaky starts at the end of the season, but the experienced veteran still managed to rack up a conference-leading 54 strikeouts with three complete games.

Senior Connor Podeszwa leads the team in ERA with a 4.01 mark through eight starts. He has done the most work of any starter this season with 51.2 innings under his belt this season. He also managed a complete game and 43 strikeouts for the fourth most in the conference. Fellow senior Jacob Lapp makes up the final spot in the rotation, and has been one of the most efficient pitchers for the Jumbos all year. He enters the postseason with a team-leading WHIP of 1.01 and holds an ERA of 4.10 following seven starts. The Jumbos will rely heavily on their starters through the postseason, but a solid bullpen will be on standby should their assistance be needed.

Michael O'Brien and Hunter Beindorff have been two of the more frequently used arms out of the bullpen. O'Brien carries a 3.37 ERA into the postseason following 18.2 innings of work mainly out of a middle-inning relief spot. Beindorff has seen more of the later innings in eight appearances this season, setting up for the closer freshman Derek Desmarais. Desmarais has had the ninth for the majority of the year and has closed games well for the Jumbos. He carries a 3.14 ERA into the postseason to lead the bullpen.

A Look at the Panthers (14-19, 10-2 NESCAC West):

The NESCAC West Division Regular Season Champion Middlebury enters the tournament with one of the best records in the conference. Their pitching has been the story of the season as they hold the third best team ERA in the conference with a 5.79. They also hit for a combined average of .288 as a team with a conference-leading 31 home runs.

Their offense features one of the best hitters for average in the entire conference with Nathan Samii earning an impressive .405 mark with 28 RBI. He slugged for .747 percent with four home runs, so power is not lacking in his bat whatsoever.

His teammate Kyle McCausland leads the conference in RBI with 42 and has amassed an eye-watering 1.249 OPS to lead his team. Sophomore Aidan Han also poses a threat at the plate, holding a 1.029 OPS in just 19 appearances.

The Panthers boast a deep roster of pitching talent, with plenty of arms able to start games or come in as relief. Christian Zebrowski has done the most work for Middlebury, with a 5.40 ERA to go along with 33.1 innings of pitching. Jacob Sherf can deal from the bump, despite not qualifying for the conference ERA tally with only 20.1 innings of work. Through 15 appearances, Sherf holds a 1.33 ERA with 1.38 WHIP. 

Other NESCAC Tournament Games: 

East #3 Trinity at West #2 Amherst

West #4 Wesleyan at East #1 Colby

West #3 Williams at East #2 Bowdoin