Teams: Baseball: Schedule & Results

COLLEGE BASEBALL FINAL SCORE
Trinity (CT) 7, Tufts 3

At Medford, MA (Huskins Field)
Friday, April 18, 2008

Game Box Score

Freshman Chase Rose doubled home two runs and scored a run for Tufts

MEDFORD -- The fifth-ranked Trinity College baseball team improved to 25-0 and clinched the NESCAC East Division title with a 7-3 victory at Tufts University on Friday afternoon at Huskins Field. Senior Tim Kiely (Swampscott, MA) improved to 7-0 on the mound, going eight innings allowing seven hits and three runs while striking out 12.

Tufts (13-10, 4-3 NESCAC East) jumped on Kiely in the first inning when freshman DH Chase Rose (Scottsdale, AZ) lined a two-run double to right field. The lead didn't last long though, as Trinity sophomore RF James Wood (Windham, NH) smashed a two-run homer to left-center that tied the score at 2-2 in the second.

Kiely settled in and retired 10 Jumbos in a row until freshman SS David Leresche's (St. Louis, MO) singled to lead off the fifth. Trinity led 3-2 at that point after scoring a run in the fourth. Senior SS Thomas DiBenedetto (Fort Myers, FL) drew a two-out walk and scored on a double by senior LF Matt Stafford (Plymouth, MA). The Bantams added another run in the top of the sixth after a walk to sophomore 1B Kent Graham (Longmeadow, MA). He moved to second on a single by DiBenedetto, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a ground out by Stafford. Meanwhile, Kiely cruised along, stretching his success to 16 out of 17 Tufts batters through the sixth.

Rose again was at the center of another Jumbo rally in the seventh off Kiely. He led off with a double and went to third on passed ball. He scored to pull Tufts within 4-3 on a ground ball by sophomore catcher Alex Perry (Danvers, MA). The Jumbos had two runners on base with one out later in the inning, but Kiely struck out the next two batters to remove himself from the danger.

The Bantams chased Tufts starter Adam Telian (Stoughton, MA) in the seventh when senior DH Chandler Barnard (Lubbock, TX) tripled to lead off the inning and scored on a single by junior 2B Ryan Piacentini (Portland, ME). A two-run double by Piacentini in the eighth extended the Bantam lead to 7-3. Sophomore reliever Jeremiah Bayer (Greenfield, MA) closed out the game for Trinity with a scoreless ninth.

Piacenti finished 4 for 5 with three RBI and Wood was 2 for 5 with the two RBI to lead Trinity's 11-hit attack. Graham scored twice.

Rose (2 for 4, 1 run, 2 RBI), sophomore 1B Corey Pontes (Milton, MA), who was 2 for 4 with a run, and Leresche (2 for 4) combined for six of Tufts' seven hits. Freshman reliever Jack Dilday (Long Beach, CA) struck out three in the ninth inning.

The teams continue their three-game series with a double-header tomorrow starting at noon.

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