BACKSTROM'S THREE HOMERS LIFT TUFTS PAST BABSON, 9-4
COLLEGE BASEBALL FINAL SCORE
Tufts 9 Babson 4
At Babson Park, MA
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
BABSON PARK, Mass. -- Freshman Kyle Backstrom (Worcester, MA) hit three home runs and drove in eight to lead the visiting Tufts University Jumbos to a 9-4 win over host Babson College in non-conference baseball action at Govoni Field on Tuesday. It was the fourth straight win for the Jumbos (16-11), while Babson (22-14) saw its seven-game winning streak come to an end.
Tufts took a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth, as sophomore Matt Clement (Norwood, MA) reached on an infield single and freshman Bryan McDavitt (Holden, MA) followed with a base hit to left. Backstrom then put his team on the board with a towering homer over the wall in left.
Babson got one run back in the bottom of the fourth, as sophomore Ted Dziuba (Wayne, NJ) walked, moved to second on a walk to senior Keith Vera (Yarmouth, MA), and scored on a pair of wild pitches. However, the Jumbos added three more runs in the top of the fifth, as McDavitt drove in one with a sacrifice fly to right and Backstrom plated two more with his second home run of the day, to build a 6-1 advantage.
Things stayed that way until the bottom of the sixth, when Babson senior Matt Bigda (Shrewsbury, MA) walked and went to second on a single by Dziuba. Two batters later, junior Tyler Doehler (Lakeville, MA) singled to right to load the bases, and senior co-captain Phil McGinnis (Shrewsbury, MA) followed with a sacrifice fly to center to plate the Beavers' second run. Dziuba would later score on a wild pitch, cutting Babson's deficit to three at 6-3.
Tufts would put the game away in the top of the seventh, as Backstrom blasted his third homer of the day over the wall in left, driving in senior Adam Kacamburas (North Reading, MA) and McDavitt and giving his team a 9-3 lead. Babson would get one more run on an RBI single by Bigda in the bottom of the inning, but it was not enough to prevent the 9-4 loss.
For the day, Backstrom went 4 for 5 with three home runs, three runs scored, and eight RBI. Sophomore Jim O'Leary (North Easton, MA) and freshman Brian Casey (Milford, MA) added two hits apiece for the Jumbos, while Kacamburas and McDavitt each scored twice. Sophomore Zak Smotherman (Westborough, MA) started and picked up the win for Tufts, allowing three runs on three hits in six innings to improve his record to 2-2.
Senior Jim Battista (Hingham, MA) gave up six runs on five hits in six innings for Babson, dropping his season record to 1-3.
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