JUMBOS SPLIT WITH TRINITY IN EXTRA INNING DIVISIONAL GAMES ON SUNDAY
COLLEGE BASEBALL FINAL SCORES
Tufts 4 Trinity 1 (9 inn.)
Trinity 4 Tufts 2 (10 inn.)
At Hartford, CT
Sunday, April 25, 2005
HARTFORD -- The Tufts Baseball team split a double-header at Trinity College on Sunday in a make-up of NESCAC East Division games postponed by rain on Saturday. Tufts scored four times in the top of the ninth inning in game one, which was scheduled for seven, to post a 4-1 victory in extras. Trinity pinch hitter Chandler Barnard (Lubbock, TX) had an RBI single in the bottom of the 10th to win game two for the Bantams 4-3.
Trinity, now 23-5 overall and 10-2 in NESCAC, clinched first place in the NESCAC East Division with the victories. Tufts, which moved to 17-8 overall and 6-2 in the conference, is in the driver's seat to earn the second berth from the division into the conference tournament May 13-15 at the site of the West Division champ. Bates College, at 3-4 in the NESCAC East, still has a chance to overtake Tufts for the playoff spot.
Tufts won the day's first game, combining base hits with Bantam fielding miscues to score four runs in the ninth and break a scoreless tie. Senior DH Greg Hickey (Medway, MA), senior catcher Bob Kenny (Milford, MA) and sophomore 2B Brian Casey (Milford, MA) had run-scoring singles in the ninth for the Jumbos. Sophomore Derek Rice (Braintree, MA) pitched seven and two thirds scoreless innings for Tufts, scattering nine hits while striking out five. Sophomore Aaron Narva (Albuquerque, NM) got the win while working just a third of an inning and allowing the Trinity run. Freshman Adam Telian (Stoughton, MA) got the final three outs for the save.
Jon Rappaport (Longmeadow, MA) took the hard-luck loss on the hill for the Bantams, hurling eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits with five strikeouts against one walk before two errors and two singles in the ninth lead to the four runs.
In the nightcap, freshman Mike Regan (West Roxbury, MA) and sophomore Tim Kiely (Swampscott, MA) combined for five innings of scoreless relief as the Bantams outlasted the Jumbos, 4-3, in 10 innings. Regan struck out six and allowed only two hits over four innings and Kiely picked up the win by striking out two and allowing only one hit in the tenth. Senior OF Aaron Goldstein (Edina, Minn.) paced the Trinity offense with two singles and a double in the game, and also laid down the sacrifice bunt to move the game-winning run into scoring position in the tenth. After freshman Tom DiBenedetto (Fort Myers, Fla.) singled to lead off the tenth, advanced to second on Goldstein's bunt, he eventually scored on the single by Barnard.
Zak Smotherman (Westboro, Mass.) got the start for the Jumbos and pitched five and two thirds innings, allowing only six hits and two earned runs. Freshman Adam Telian (Stoughton, Mass.) picked up the loss after allowing three hits and one run in two and two thirds innings of work. The Jumbos scored twice in the fourth with singles by Hickey and freshman DH Steve Ragonese (Upper Saddle River, NJ) sparking the rally. Sophomore CF Chris Decembrele (Walpole, MA) hit a run-scoring double in the sixth to put Tufts up 3-1.
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