COLLEGE BASEBALL
FINAL SCORES
Tufts 11
Colby 1
Tufts 9
Colby 4
At Medford, MA
Saturday, April 24, 2004
MEDFORD – The Tufts University Baseball team swept a double-header from Colby College on Saturday afternoon in NESCAC East Division action. The Jumbos won the first game in a romp, 11-1, and then came from behind to take the nightcap, 9-4.
With the victories, Tufts stayed alive in the hunt for a NESCAC tournament berth. The Jumbos (14-11 overall, 4-4 NESCAC East) are vying for second place in the division. Bowdoin College, which split a pair of games at Bates on Saturday, finished divisional play with an 8-4 mark. The Jumbos, who host Colby again tomorrow afternoon and then play a three-game series at Bates next weekend, have to win their four remaining division games to qualify. Tufts won two of three games at Bowdoin when the teams met April 16-17, so they would take second place by virtue of the head-to-head tie-breaker. Trinity College at 10-2 is NESCAC East's first-place team and will host the tournament that starts on May 7.
Colby College (3-23, 0-11 NESCAC East) ran its losing streak to 13 games on Saturday.
Jumbo senior co-captain Randy Newsom (Cincinnati, OH) pitched a three-hitter in the first game (seven innings) while the Tufts offense scored in every inning except the second. Senior 3B Adam Kacamburas (North Reading, MA) was 3 for 3 with three doubles, scoring three runs and knocking in two. He factored in Jumbo rallies during the first, third and fourth innings.
Tufts scored four times in the fifth on the strength of home runs by freshman 1B Bryan McDavitt (Holden, MA) and sophomore LF Jim O'Leary (North Easton, MA). O'Leary, whose bomb to right field was a 400-footer, finished 2 for 3 with three RBIs. The Jumbos had 13 hits overall.
Colby scored its only run off Newsom in the top of the third to even the score at 1-1. Freshman 3B Andy Carr (Conway, NH) led off with a sharp double over the left fielder's head and scored on a single by freshman LF Brian Liberty (Hollis, NH). There was a play at the plate, but the throw short-hopped Tufts C Bob Kenny (Milford, MA) and Carr scored.
Newsom struck out six and walked no one in seven innings for his fifth victory.
In game two, Colby got on the scoreboard first in the second inning when sophomore RF Tyler Agustin (Pearl City, HI) reached on an error and scored on a long double to the right field gap by Carr. The Mules advanced their lead to 2-0 in the third when Liberty led off with a walk and scored on a single by freshman 2B Tom Salemy (Odessa, FL).
Jumbo sophomore SS Greg Chertok (New City, NY) was largely responsible for Tufts gaining the lead and then taking a 5-2 advantage at the end of six innings. Tufts scored three unearned runs in the fourth to take a 3-2 lead. Chertok hit a two-run single, stole second and then scored on a ground ball to the right side in which he was stealing third and continued without stopping to make it home.
The Jumbos added two runs in the bottom of the sixth with a lead off double by freshman CF Chris Decembrele (Walpole, MA), an RBI single by O'Leary and a run-scoring double by Chertok.
After Colby's early offense, Tufts freshman starter Ben Simon (Providence, RI) was cruising along until the eighth. The Mules rallied for two runs when senior C Chris Roy (Lisbon Falls, ME) smashed a two-run double to deep center that pulled Colby within 6-4. They went on to load the bases, but Tufts freshman reliever Aaron Narva (Albuquerque, NM) came on and struck out DH Robert Jacobs (Mequon, WI) looking for the third out.
A two-run double by McDavitt in the bottom of the eighth was part of a three-run inning that gave Tufts some breathing room. He finished 3 for 4, Decembrele was 3 for 4 with two runs and an RBI, Chertok was 2 for 3 with a run and 3 batted in, and O'Leary was 2 for 4 with a run and an RBI. Simon, who allowed nine hits and four runs in 7.1 innings, earned his fourth victory, while Narva got his third save with 1.1 solid innings in relief.
Colby got a good start from senior pitcher Phil Geiger (Greenwich, CT), who allowed just two earned runs in 5.1 innings. Liberty finished game two 2 for 4 with a run, Salemy was 2 for 4 with a run and an RBI, and sophomore 1B Rodney Ames (Cotuit, MA) was 2 for 5 with a run.
#