Wednesday,
April 2, 2003
Written by Elliott Wiley, Jr.
SHAPIRO SETS
BASEBALL'S CAREER SAVES RECORD WITH 12
MEDFORD
-- Senior tri-captain Brian Shapiro's
(Swampscott, MA/Swampscott) recognition as a Tufts Baseball player
stems from his All-NESCAC performance at shortstop, but he is more than a
fielder. On Saturday, March 22, Shapiro proved this by closing out a 4-3 victory
at Apprentice, setting the Tufts record for career saves with 12.
Junior
Randy Newsom (Cincinnati, OH/St. Xavier) started for the Jumbos
against Apprentice, and after going six innings and allowing three runs, Shapiro
moved from shortstop to pitcher with hopes of saving his first game of the
season. With Tufts up a run, 4-3, he surrendered two hits, including a double
and single by two Builder hitters. With runners on first and second and two outs
in the bottom of the seventh inning, Shapiro struck out the final batter of the
contest for the record-setting save.
Shapiro
entered the season tied for the career saves record with Matt Marengi at 11
each, but Shaps' last save catapulted him to a league of his own as he is now
the sole leader. Shapiro's name appears twice on the Tufts single-season save
record, as he tallied five saves in 2001 and four last season. Jeff Bloom (1988)
currently holds the Tufts record after his 1988 season of eight saves.
To
go along with saves for Shapiro is appearances, as he is currently tied for 16th
in Tufts history for career appearances on the mound with 32. The leader of that
category, Marengi, appeared in 53 games. Shapiro was also just two outings short
in 2001 of tying the Tufts single-season record of appearances. He pitched in 14
games, with the leader, Mike Saucier, pitching in 16 games in 2000.
Last
season while accruing his four saves, Shapiro pitched to a 2-1 record with a
3.38 earned run average. Shaps pitched a total of 18.2 innings, striking out 12
batters. Opponents had difficulty getting a hold of Shapiro's pitches as they
only batted .247 against him. His sophomore season in 2001, Shapiro had his
career high in saves with five. He pitched 16.1 innings, striking out five
batters. Shapiro's 3.86 ERA looks huge next to his miniscule opponents batting
average. The Tufts all-time save leader was stingy when serving up hittable
pitches to other teams as they only batted .138 off him all season. For his
This
season, Shapiro has yet to give up a run in two pitching appearances, with his
only save being the record-breaking closure.
Shapiro
is not the only member of the baseball team walking into Recordville, as his
teammate and fellow senior tri-captain Evan
Zupancic (Lake Oswego, OR/Lakeridge) is on the verge of setting the Tufts
record for career home runs. He began the season two home runs shy of tying the
record, but a couple bombs over spring break changed that. Zupancic now sits on
19 career home runs, one shy of passing Bill Canon and Eric Shoulds, snatching
the Tufts mark all for himself. Zupancic
shattered the single-season tater record last year after crushing 11 balls out
of the yard. The previous record was eight in one season held by Sholds and Dan
Morse.
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