Jumbos take extra innings to beat Bentley

In frigid weather, three hours after the first pitch was throw in the baseball team's game against Bentley yesterday, senior tri-captain Evan Zupancic stroked a two out, walk-off homerun in the bottom of the 11th inning to propel the Jumbos to a 3-1 victory.

The win bumped the Jumbos' record to 15-8 and dropped the Falcons to 5-12 on the season.

The Jumbos scored their only run of the first nine innings in the bottom of the second when freshman second baseman Greg Chertok was hit by a pitch and then stole second base. After sophomore catcher Bob Kenny grounded out to second, junior outfielder Drew Blewett stepped to the plate with a chance to knock in the first run of the game. Blewett, who has seen limited action this season, did not squander the opportunity and got a base hit, putting the Jumbos up 1-0.

"I'm just happy to contribute any way I can," Blewett said. "I haven't been swinging the bat real well, but I was glad to be able to come in and contribute."

Luckily for the Jumbos, their starting pitcher, sophomore Jeremy Davis, was cruising. In a total of five innings pitched, Davis gave up seven hits, hit two batters, and walked one, but gave up no runs.

Jeff Volinski replaced Davis after the fifth, and was equally impressive through eight innings, surrendering only one hit.

"I located my fastball and threw the off-speed stuff when I needed to," Volinski said.

With the Jumbos still up 1-0, Volinski's luck ran out for half an inning as he ran into some trouble in the top of the ninth. After surrendering a leadoff double to Bentley left fielder Bill Dasier, Volinski induced a pop up to first from third baseman Tim Bryant. Volinski then hit the next two batters to lead the bases, placing him in a late game pinch.

Unfortunately for the Jumbos, the outcome was not favorable. Chad Maston, who entered the contest in the seventh inning, belted a sacrifice fly to center field, allowing Dasier to score the tying run. The inning ended with a fly ball to left field, but the damage had already been done.

Tufts had an opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the ninth after Frank Dinucci got a pinch hit single and moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt. With one out, Zupancic struck out looking. Junior Nick Palange fell victim to the same fate, but with a slight twist. On the called third strike, the ball actually grazed his knee, but the umpire said his knee was in the strike zone. Coach John Casey adamantly contested the call, but to no avail.

"You got to make your point and hope something happens," Casey said.

Nevertheless, the Jumbos still focused on the task at hand -- extra innings.

"I just kept saying to myself 'there is no way in hell we are losing this game'," Volinski said. "Any time there is a runner on base, you have to make sure he stays where he is. The little things become much more important."

Volinski shut down the Falcons in the top of the tenth, retiring them in one-two-three order. Once again the Jumbos threatened in the bottom half of the inning, but could not advance a runner across the plate.

After junior designated hitter and relief catcher Greg Hickey was bean-balled for the third time on the afternoon, he was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt.

With the chance to be a hero, freshman first baseman Matt Clement stepped up. He slapped a double that sliced down the right field line, just out of the reach of Bentley right fielder G.J. Vicente. Because of the nature of the hit, Hickey had to remain close to second base and was only able to advance to third on the play.

Once again, a huge opportunity to pull out a victory turned out to be a debacle. On a two-strike pitch to Dave Martin, Hickey started running home, but Martin missed the pitch, causing a strikeout and rundown situation. Bentley's infield eventually corralled Hickey to kill the Jumbos rally.

In the top of the 11th Volinski got a little help from his defense, which turned an inning ending 6-4-3 double play.

Bentley relief pitcher Mike Griffith seemed as if he would press the game into a 12th inning after he retired the first two batters of the bottom of the 11th inning. Tufts had other plans, however.

Junior outfielder Frank Giliberti experienced a stroke of luck so to speak after drawing a catcher's interference call which put him on first base, setting the table for Zupancic's extra inning heroics.

"We knew sooner or later we would have to come through with a hit," Blewett said. "Frank did a nice job getting on base and Evan came through."

Zupancic's blast rocketed over the left-center field wall to the pleasure of teammates and fans alike.

"I had kind of a frustrating day [at bat] because I was jamming myself," Zupancic said. "(Griffith) threw an off-speed and I just went."

Although Zupancic's hit was clutch and did win Tufts the ballgame, the combined effort of Davis and Volinski on the mound kept the Jumbos in the game.

"They are two guys who are our future," Casey said. "This is the best they have pitched all year; it is nice they are throwing well."

Although the Jumbos picked up a victory today, the celebration can only be short-lived as they travel to Colby this weekend for a three game series against the Mules.

Currently Tufts sits at second place in the NESCAC/East with a 6-3 record, one game behind conference leader Trinity College. Colby currently resides in the basement of the league with a 1-6 NESCAC/East record. Two victories against Colby would secure the Jumbos second place in the division and a NESCAC playoff berth, making this week's trio of contest important.

"I think we should approach [Colby] like any other game," Zupancic said. "We need to go out there and play hard and hopefully we will be better than today."