Baseball team returns home strong from Virginia trip

Upon return from its spring break trip to Virginia, the Tufts began its 15-home-game stretch against Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Wednesday, March 27. After winning by a score of 24–6, the Jumbos played a three-game series against NESCAC opponent Bates and one game against Salem State. They went 4–1 all told and improved their record to 12–3 overall and 2–1 in NESCAC play. 

On Monday, the Jumbos exploded for 30 runs in an impressive 30–2 victory over the Salem State Vikings. It's the most runs the Tufts has scored in a game since 1987 when it beat Colby 32–10. The Jumbos fell behind early in this game, as junior right fielder Traverse Briana hit a two-run home run for the Vikings that brought home sophomore center fielder Shawn Rebello.

The Jumbos quickly responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the first inning.Junior outfielder JP Knight walked with the bases loaded to score junior outfielder Justin Mills for the first run of the game for Tufts.Junior infielder Elias Varinos continued the inning with an RBI single to center field to score senior outfielder Casey Santos-Ocampo, and senior co-captain Harrison Frickman finished the scoring in the bottom of the first inning by getting hit by a pitch to score Santos-Ocampo again.

The Jumbos’ offense proceeded to score 10 runs in the third, seven runs in the fourth and nine runs in the fifth, adding an additional run in the eighth to conclude their scoring for the game. The Jumbos had 22 hits in this game, most notably a 3-for-4 game for Santos-Ocampo and a 6-for-7 performance by Varinos.

The Jumbos split a doubleheader against the Bobcats on March 30. In the second game, the Jumbos suffered a narrow 6–5 defeat.Bates took an early 5–0 lead after two-and-a-half innings, and despite Tufts' scoring efforts in the middle innings, they came up just short in their comeback bid. 

In the first game of the double-header, the Jumbos started off strong and never surrendered the lead as they won the game 4–2.The Jumbos got their runs early in this game, scoring two runs each in the second and third innings.Junior outfielder/catcher Ryan Day scored the first run of the game on a wild pitch in the bottom of the second.Then Varinos came up and hit an RBI single to score senior co-captain infielder Will Shackelford.

Varinos spoke about the play and his process during the Jumbos' scoring drive.

“I came up, there was a guy on third and there was two outs, so I was just looking to have a good at bat, just have a competitive at bat, get my pitch,” Varinos said. “If the pitch was there, I was trying to drive the ball to get the run in, and if it was not there, then I was going to take my walk. The pitcher gave me something I could handle, and I put a pretty good swing on it and was able to get the job done.”

In the next inning, Frickman continued the scoring for the Jumbos by ripping an RBI double to score first-year infielder Peter DeMaria.Day singled later in the inning, scoring Frickman all the way from first on an error by the right fielder. Bates got on the board in the fourth due to an unearned run.In the fifth inning, senior catcher/first-baseman Justin White doubled home junior catcher Jack Arend for the Bobcats to cut the lead to 4–2, but the Bobcats scored no more, securing the win for the Jumbos. Tufts’ starting pitcher, junior Brent Greeley, picked up his third win of the season, throwing four innings and giving up two hits on zero unearned runs.

Varinos led off for the Jumbos in this game and had an excellent day at the plate, going 3-for-3 with an RBI and a walk. 

“Anytime I am leading off, especially in my first at bat of the game, I really just want to kind of see as many pitches as I can so I can report back to my teammates on what kind of stuff the pitcher has that day,” Varinos said. “ [For] your other at bats, it depends on where you fall in the order for those innings. The first at bat of the game, [I'm] definitively looking to set the tone for the rest of the game and try to collect as much information as possible.”

The first meeting between these two NESCAC teams came on March 29.The Jumbos relied on a complete game by senior co-captain RJ Hall to blank the Bobcats 6–0. Hall only gave up three hits in his masterpiece to secure his third win of the season.

Although Hall threw a complete game shutout, he credited his defense on the team's stellar performance.

“Our defense was what made us win that game — not me pitching on the mound,” Hall said. “Our defense had my back the entire game.”

Hall then brought up a crucial play that occurred in the first inning that positioned Tufts well for the rest of the game.

“In the first inning when there was a runner on first and third ... Casey [Santos-Ocampo] made a diving catch right on the warning track out in left field when there were two outs, so that saved a run,” Hall said. “It was just a phenomenal play and set the tone for the defense for the entire rest of the game.”

The Jumbos started off the game hot, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Sophomore infielder Ryan Daues scored in Day for the first run of the game on a double to right field.DeMaria continued the scoring later in the inning on a single to left field to score in Daues.The Jumbos scored another run in the bottom of the second inning on a bases-loaded walk by Daues, which scored Frickman.Sophomore infielder Will Burgess singled home Santos-Ocampo in the bottom of the fourth inning to extend the lead to 4–0.DeMaria concluded the scoring by bringing in Santos-Ocampo and Day on a single to left field. 

The Jumbos started their long home stretch against Mass. Maritime on March 27. Tufts' offense erupted for 24 runs on 11 hits and 20 walks. The Jumbos’ 20 walks tied for the second most by any team in Div. III history.

Lead-off hitter Mills scored three times on four walks to control the tempo for the Jumbos. Mills spoke about his performance against Mass. Maritime.

“I was just trying to be disciplined," Mills said. "It was a pretty cold day out. We were just trying to make them come to us and attack our pitch if we got it. When guys got their pitch they were attacking it and they were hitting it hard, and we had the luxury of being able to wait and take what they would give us and [make] them play our game.”

The Jumbos play next against the MIT Engineers on April 4.