JUMBO SEASON CLOSES WITH 5-2 LOSS AT EASTERN CONNECTICUT
COLLEGE BASEBALL FINAL SCORE
Eastern Connecticut 5 Tufts 2
At Mansfield, CT
Tuesday, May 4, 2004
MANSFIELD, Conn. -- Senior lefty Jeremy Hall (Northfield, VT) won his 11th regular-season decision without a loss, pitching into the eighth inning in Eastern Connecticut State University's 5-2 win over Tufts University Tuesday night in the Warriors' final regular-season home baseball game of the season. It was the final game of the season for the Jumbos, who finished 18-14.
A winner of five straight, Eastern (29-8) closes out its home regular season with its 14th home win in 17 decision and defeated Tufts for the fourth time in the last five meetings.
Hall (7-0) allowed only one run on three hits through the first seven innings before giving way to junior righty Ben O'Brien (Montville, CT) with two runners aboard and one out in the eighth and Eastern leading 5-1. Freshman LF John Rothermel (Memphis, TN) singled in Tufts' second run of the game, but O'Brien got an inning-ending double play to escape further damage.
The Warriors, ranked fourth nationally and first in New England, scored twice in the second and twice in the third to move out to a 4-0 lead. Junior DH Leon Galemba (Fairfield, CT) drove in two of the runs with his second home run of the year - a solo home run with one out in the second and a two-out RBI single in the third. Senior catcher Adam Hevenor's (North Kingstown, RI) ground ball plated sophomore third baseman Marc Garofalo (South Kingstown, RI) from third with the second run of the second inning In the third, junior leftfielder Jason Pekrul (Berlin, CT) doubled to open the inning and scored on a single by senior second baseman Eugene Julien (Brockton, MA), hustling home when the throw to the plate was relayed to second to cut down Julien.
Tufts scored its first run in the fourth after a lead-off walk to senior 3B Adam Kacamburas (North Reading, MA). After another walk, freshman CF Chris Decembrele (Walpole, MA) singled to score Kacamburas. Two strikeouts ended the inning with two runners left on base and Tufts trailing 4-1.
Junior centerfielder Scott Hayward's (Meriden, CT) single plated Pekrul (leadoff single) to make it 5-1
Eastern in the fifth. Trailing 5-1, Tufts chased Hall in the eighth and threatened again in the ninth but O'Brien retired the potential tying run and ended the game when Matt Clement flied deep to left.
Galemba had three of Eastern's ten hits while Hayward had two. Junior
catcher Bob Kenny (Milford, MA) finished a good season at the plate with
a 2 for 3 night as Tufts had eight hits.
Tufts used a trio of pitchers, with junior Jeff Volinski (Andover, MA) taking the loss.
Despite the loss, it was a good day for Tufts' seniors in their final game. Senior Randy Newsom (Cincinnati, OH) finished his career with a flourish, striking out five in two innings. Senior Nick Palange (Hudson, MA), despite a torn ACL, went up to the plate as a pinch hitter in the ninth and hit a single in the final at-bat of his career. Pitcher Dave Frew (Worcester, MA) picked off two Eastern runners in 2.1 innings of work.
#