JUMBOS LOSE 8-5 TO WILLIAMS FOR NESCAC CHAMPIONSHIP

COLLEGE BASEBALL FINAL SCORE
NESCAC Championship Game
Williams 8    Tufts 5

At Williamstown, MA
Sunday, May 13, 2001

T - Randy Newsom, Jon Lee (5), Brian Shapiro (8) and Joe Surprenant; W - Adam Mancinone, Ben Hamm (5) and Tim Albrecht.
WP - Hamm (7-0); LP - Newsom (2-4).
2B - T, Evan Zupancic; W, Austin Lehn 2.
3B - W, Jabe Bergeron.
HR - W, Austin Lehn, Tim Albrecht.

Click here for game box score

Records - T, 21-13-1; W, 31-3.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass -- The Tufts University baseball team dropped an 8-5 decision to Williams College in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) championship game on Sunday afternoon. The Ephs move on to the NCAA Tournament New England regionals while Tufts' season ends with a 21-13-1 record. The Jumbos, who entered the final out of the loser's bracket, would have had to beat Williams twice to win the conference championship.

The Jumbos jumped out to a 4-0 lead after four innings off of Ephs starter Adam Mancinone. Junior Dan Callahan (Medfield, MA) knocked in the first run with a single in the first inning, scoring sophomore CF Evan Zupancic (Lake Oswego, OR) who doubled. Singles by freshman 3B Dan LaPointe (Everett, MA) and senior LF Todd Boutwell (Woburn, MA), a ground out by sophomore DH Dave Martin (Arlington, MA) and a Williams error produced two runs in the second. In the fourth, junior 1B Tim Ayres (Irvine, CA) led off with a single and scored on a fielder's choice by senior C Joe Surprenant (Tewksbury, MA).

Williams scored a much-needed three runs in the fourth. Tim Albrecht lined a home run to left-center leading off the inning. Then with two outs and the bases loaded, Bobby Coppola grounded a clutch two RBI single through the hole between short and third to make it a 4-3 game. Tufts went back up by two in the fifth. With reliever Ben Hamm on the mound, sophomore Jon Herbert (Davidsonville, MD) reached on an error and went to second on a wild pitchl. Callahan then lined a hot shot down the first base line that was deflected by Jabe Bergeron. Herbert came around to score from second as he barely beat Bergeron's throw. That would be all the offense that Hamm would allow though. The Jumbos would only manage two hits over the final four innings. Hamm (7-0) struck out three and did not walk a batter in his five innings.

The Ephs took the lead with four runs in the fifth. Austin Lehn led off the inning with his first home run of the season, a solo shot to left. Lex Evriviades, Mark Scialabba, and Matt Dahlman followed with consecutive singles later in the inning to give Williams a 6-5 lead. Sophomore Jon Lee (Manhasset Hills, NY) relieved freshman starter Randy Newsom (Cincinnati, OH), but Coppola reached on an error that scored Scialabba to make it a two-run game. Newsom allowed seven runs and ten hits in 4 and 2/3 innings while taking the loss.

Williams put the icing on the cake in the eighth. Lehn, who was 3 for 5, just missed another homer, as his second double of the game hit the wall in left. Bergeron, who also had three hits, drove in Lehn with a rope triple off the centerfield fence. The Jumbos went down 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth.

Callahan had three hits and two RBI for Tufts. Lee provided a gutsy three innings of relief after going seven innings on Friday.

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