McDAVITT
HELPS TUFTS SLAM BATES IN CONFERENCE OPENER, 10-3
COLLEGE BASEBALL FINAL SCORE
Tufts 10
Bates 3
At Medford, MA
Friday, April 1, 2005
MEDFORD – Sophomore 1B Bryan McDavitt (Holden, MA) hit two opposite-field home runs, including a grand slam, to drive in seven runs as the Tufts Baseball team opened its NESCAC East Division schedule with a 10-3 victory over Bates at Huskins Field on Friday afternoon.
After the Jumbos took a 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI fielder's choice by sophomore 2B Brian Casey (Milford, MA), McDavitt smashed a three-run home run to right in the third to give Tufts a 4-0 lead.
Tufts sophomore starter Ben Simon (Providence, RI) held the lead by pitching five scoreless innings until running into trouble in the sixth. A lead-off double by senior 2B Adam Taranto (Sudbury, MA) and run-scoring singles by senior 3B Adam Worral (Duxbury, MA) and junior 1B Tyler Paul (Great Falls, MT) pulled the Bobcats within 4-2. The visitors narrowed the margin to 4-3 in the seventh when senior OF Kyohei Yamada (Kamatus, Japan) led off with a single and scored on a two-out base hit by senior catcher Charlie Engasser (Chanhassen MN).
McDavitt opened up some breathing room for the Jumbos in the bottom of the seventh with a grand slam home run that made it 8-3. The ball went out almost exactly in the same spot as his first homer in the third. He finished the game 2 for 4 with seven runs batted in. The Jumbos tacked on two more runs in the eighth on a triple by junior SS Greg Chertok (New City, NY) and a double by sophomore 3B Kyle Backstrom (Worcester, MA).
Jumbo sophomore Aaron Narva (Albuquerque, NM) finished off the Bobcats with two scoreless innings of relief pitching, running his string of scoreless innings this spring to eight. Simon earned the victory going six innings giving up five hits and two runs. He worked out of a bases loaded jam in the first and retired 14 out of 15 Bobcats during one stretch. Senior Mike Kinsman (Yarmouth, ME) took the loss for Bates, allowing eight runs (six earned) and six hits in 6.2 innings.
Chertok was 2 for 4 with two runs and an RBI for Tufts (6-5, 1-0 NESCAC East), while Backstrom, McDavitt and Casey also scored twice. Taranto finished 2 for 3 with a run for the Bobcats (1-5, 0-1 NESCAC East).
#