JUMBOS EARN THIRD SHUT OUT, BEAT #21 METHODIST 2-0
COLLEGE BASEBALL FINAL SCORE
Tufts 2 Methodist 0
At Fayetteville, NC
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Sophomore starter Ben Simon (Providence, RI) pitched six scoreless innings to lead the Tufts Baseball team to a 2-0 victory at Methodist on Tuesday afternoon. The shut out was the third in four games this spring for the Jumbos and came against the #21 team in this week's NCAA Division III rankings.
Simon breezed through the first five innings, retiring 14 of the first 15 batters he faced. The Jumbos then got strong relief work from junior Erik Johanson (Wynnewood, PA), senior Jeremy Davis (Little Falls, NY) and sophomore Aaron Narva (Albuquerque, NM), who picked up his second saves with a scoreless ninth despite walking two.
Tufts scored both of its runs in the fourth, thanks to some wildness by Methodist starter Fielding Hammond and three straight base hits. Senior LF Jeff Volinski (Andover, MA) got hit by a pitch to lead off and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Sophomore 1B Bryan McDavitt (Holden, MA) singled Volinski to third, then senior DH Greg Hickey (Medway, MA) singled him home for the first Tufts run. Sophomore CF Chris Decembrele (Walpole, MA) added another run-scoring single.
The pitching staff lowered its earned run average to 1.80 with the third shutout of the spring. Hickey and sophomore 3B Kyle Backstrom (Worcester, MA) had two hits apiece for the Jumbos.
David Hoffman had two of the Monarch's six hits. Hammond went eight solid innings for Methodist, allowing just the two runs and six hits while striking out eight.
Tufts continues its swing through the Mid-Atlantic states with a game at Greensboro College on Wednesday.
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