EASTERN CONNECTICUT TRIPS TUFTS IN NCAAs, 5-2

COLLEGE BASEBALL FINAL SCORE
NCAA New England Region Tournament
Eastern Connecticut 5    Tufts 2

At Harwich, MA
Friday, May 17, 2002

Eastern Connecticut 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 = 5-11-0
Tufts 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 = 2-8-2

Game Box Score

Records - T, 26-9-1; EC, 32-9-1.

HARWICH, Mass. -- Junior Matt Fortin tossed a complete-game eight-hitter and struck out 11 in picking up his sixth win of the season to lead second-seeded Eastern Connecticut to a 5-2 victory over third-seeded Tufts in second round play of the 2002 NCAA Division III New England Baseball Regional Friday evening at Whitehouse Field. Tufts will now take on Suffolk in an elimination round contest that begins at 3:30 pm on Saturday.

Fortin retired 14 of the last 15 batters he faced in propelling the Warriors (32-9-1) to their triumph, as Eastern Connecticut jumped out to 3-0 lead in its first at-bat on a throwing error and a two-run double by senior Inaki Ormaechea. The Jumbos (26-9-1) closed that gap to one in the fourth by plating a pair of runs on RBI singles by senior 1B Tim Ayres (Irvine, CA) and junior SS Brian Shapiro (Swampscott, MA), but the Warriors added single insurance runs in the fifth and seventh frames on a sacrifice fly by junior Jeff Funaro and an RBI single by senior John Hedde to close out the scoring.

Sophomore Dwight Wildman collected three of Eastern Connecticut's 11 hits on the evening, while senior Jared Holowaty added a pair of safeties for the Warriors. Ayres had a pair of hits in the setback for Tufts, as senior Steve Lapham (Newburyport, MA) allowed two earned runs over seven innings in falling to 2-3 on the season.

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