Teams: Baseball: Schedule & Results

COLLEGE BASEBALL FINAL SCORE
Tufts 15, Bowdoin 3

At Medford, MA
Friday, April 17, 2009

Game Box Score

Kevin Casey sparked the offense with four hits, three RBI and three runs scored

MEDFORD -- Senior starter Mike Stefaniak (Needham, MA) pitched eight strong innings and the Tufts University bats banged out 15 hits as the Jumbos took a 15-3 victory over Bowdoin in the first of a three-game NESCAC East Division series at Huskins Field on Friday. Both teams are fighting for a spot in the upcoming conference tournament.

The win was the third straight and fifth in the last six games for Tufts, which improved to 11-14 overall and 3-4 in the NESCAC East. Bowdoin (16-13, 3-4) lost for the first time in five games.

Stefaniak pitched six scoreless innings before Bowdoin hit three solo home runs in the seventh and eighth innings. He allowed seven hits and struck out 10 while improving his record to 4-1. Senior 3B Kevin Casey (Milford, MA) led Tufts offensively with four hits, three RBI and three runs scored. Junior catcher Alex Perry (Danvers, MA) finished 3 for 5 with two RBI and a run.

Bowdoin sophomore RF Dan Hicks (New York, NY) and junior 2B Kevin Zikaras (Milford, CT) both went 2 for 4 with a home run. Senior 1B Joe Berte (Marlborough, MA) hit the other Polar Bear tater. Starter Pat Driscoll (Braintree, MA) took the loss, allowing eight hits and nine runs (six earned) while striking out six and walking four in 5.2 innings.

The Jumbos had a 14-0 lead through six innings. They scored three times in the third with the help of two Bowdoin errors. Tufts sophomore LF Ian Goldberg (Lake Forest, IL) doubled and scored to lead off the inning. Perry had an RBI single in the fifth that was misplayed in left field, leading to another three-run inning for Tufts. The hosts blew it open with eight runs in the sixth, sending 12 hitters to the plate. Casey cleared the bases with a double and Goldberg hit a two-run triple in the inning.

Stefaniak, meanwhile, was limiting Bowdoin's scoring chances. Zikaras singled with one out in the first and stole second, but was stranded there. Sophomore Brendan Garner (Swampscott, MA) reached by an error to lead off the third and moved to second with one out, but again Stefaniak got the next two outs to end the inning. Bowdoin sophomore 3B Brett Gorman (Bedford, NY) led off the fifth with a double, but the Polar Bears could not bring him around.

Bowdoin got on the scoreboard with Hicks' shot, his fifth of the year, to lead off the seventh. Zikaras (1st) and Berte (3rd) then hit back-to-back bombs in the eighth, making it 14-3. For Tufts, Casey singled to lead off the bottom of the eighth and eventually scored the final run on Bowdoin's fourth error of the game.

Sophomore SS David Leresche (St. Louis, MO), who was 2 for 5 with two runs and an RBI, and sophomore RF Chase Rose (Scottsdale, AZ) with three RBI joined Goldberg (2 for 4, 2 RBI, 2 runs) as other offensive leaders for the Jumbos.

The teams play a double-header tomorrow beginning at noon.

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