The first round of the NESCAC championship is in the books, and Tufts and Wesleyan won some amazing baseball games to advance to Day Two undefeated.
Amherst’s John Cook ’15 got the start for the Jeffs and rolled into the bottom of the fifth. Cook struck out leadoff man James Howard ’15, but the ball skittered away, allowing Howard to reach. The error would prove crucial when shortstop Matt Moser ’16 smashed a three-run double to make the score 4-1 in Tufts’ favor. Amherst responded in the sixth with a two-run homer from Conner Gunn ’16, but the Jumbos blew the game open in the eighth, when a hit by pitch and two singles allowed four more runs to score. Moser ended the day with five RBIs, while leadoff man Connor McDavitt ’15 got the offense rolling by going 5-5 and stealing a base.
Read the NESCAC recap here and check out some photos.
Wesleyan’s Nick Cooney ’15 was unhittable into the seventh inning against Bates, but his own throwing error on a Conor Reenstierna ’16 bunt allowed three runs to score for Bates in the top of the seventh, making the score 3-2 Bates. Ben Hoynes ’15 hit a sac fly in the eighth to tie the game off of Sam Maliska ’15 who relieved starter Brad Reynolds ’14 earlier in the inning. Wesleyan brought its top of order to the plate in the ninth to face Maliska. After Maliska struck out Andrew Yin ’14, he hit Donnie Cimino ’15 with a pitch and walked Sam Goodwin-Boyd ’15, earning himself the hook in favor of Rob DiFranco ’16, who promptly hit Guy Davidson ’16 to load the bases. For the third time this season, Wesleyan walked off with a suicide squeeze against a NESCAC opponent when Will O’Sullivan ’17 dropped one down back to the pitcher and Cimino beat the throw home to win 4-3.
Check out the NESCAC recap here.
Amherst and Bates will square off tomorrow morning at 10:30, while Tufts will play Wesleyan at the same time on Tufts’ home turf. The Amherst/Bates winner and Tufts/Wesleyan loser will play an elimination game at 2:30 on Huskins Field.