TUFTS, BABSON SPLIT SUNDAY DOUBLE-HEADER
COLLEGE BASEBALL FINAL SCORES
Game 1: Babson 9
Tufts 8
Game 2: Tufts 13
Babson 1
At Medford, MA
Sunday, May 8, 2005
MEDFORD – Visiting Babson College assured itself of a winning regular-season record with a 9-8 victory in game one, and Tufts University won game two 13-1 behind two-hit pitching from Zak Smotherman (Westborough, MA), when the teams met in a local college baseball double-header at Huskins Field on Sunday afternoon.
Babson (19-18) put itself in position for an ECAC Tournament berth with their victory. Freshman 2B Matt Delaney (Newton, MA) and junior co-captain Ted Dziuba (Wayne, NJ) both had two hits and three runs batted in for the Beavers. A five-run top of the seventh, highlighted by Dziuba's fifth home run, put the Beavers up 9-3.
Tufts (23-9) battled back to score five runs of their own in the bottom of the seventh, including the fifth home run by junior RF Jim O'Leary (North Easton, MA). However, with the tying run on second base, Babson's Robbie Leer (Edina, MN) struck out Tufts DH Greg Hickey (Medway, MA) for the final out.
Babson had 11 hits overall. Two apiece came from sophomore SS Billy Schmitt (Fairview, NJ) and sophomore RF Billy Lucas (Acworth, GA) as they joined Delaney and Dziuba to produce eight hits, seven runs scored and seven RBIs from the top four hitters in the batting order. Despite a shaky seventh, Kyle Hammerschmidt (Lawrenceville, NJ) earned his fourth victory on the mound.
O'Leary led the Jumbos with a 2 for 4 performance that included two runs scored and four RBIs. Sophomore 1B Bryan McDavitt (Holden, MA) was 2 for 4 with an RBI and Hickey finished 2 for 4 with a run. Sophomore Derek Rice (Braintree, MA) took the loss, going 5.1 innings and allowing seven hits and four runs.
Game two was over early as the Jumbos exploded for 11 runs in the second inning, sending 15 men to the plate. Tufts had six straight hits and two walks before making an out, junior SS Greg Chertok (New City, NY) hit two doubles and was one of five Jumbos with two hits apiece in the inning, and the Jumbos 11 hits overall in the frame. They had only three others in the rest of the game.
Smotherman, meanwhile, went the distance for his third win, striking out 10 and walking just one. He lost the shutout in the seventh on a lead-off double by Delaney and an RBI single by Steve Tahmoush (Arlington, MA).
Freshman DH Steve Ragonese (Upper Saddle River, NJ) finished 3 for 4 with two runs scored and three RBIs for Tufts. Sophomore CF Chris Decembrele (Walpole, MA) was also 3 for 4 and scored three runs with an RBI. Six Jumbos had multiple-hit games.
Tufts finished its regular-season and will play in the NESCAC Tournament next weekend at Amherst College. Babson awaits word on an ECAC berth.
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