Two consecutive wins for the Tufts baseball lifted them to a series win over Bates in their first NESCAC games of the season. After an eight-game tour of California and two games last week, the Jumbos had a record of 6–9.
Senior pitcher Jacob Lapp took the mound for his fourth start of the season on Friday afternoon. After a scoreless first inning, the Bobcats put up a five-run rally in the second with three singles, two errors and a two-run home run. In nine batters faced, Lapp gave up five runs, though only one was earned.
The Jumbos attempted to come back in the bottom of the inning, leading off with a single by junior outfielder Owen McKiernan and a walk from graduate student catcher/first baseman Connor Brala. Junior infielder Jesse McCullough slapped a single through the right side, scoring McKiernan and advancing Brala to third. A sacrifice fly from senior outfielder Ben Leonard scored Brala, cutting the Bates lead to three.
Catcher Liam Yardley sent a ball to deep left field and homered in the top of the third, raising the Bobcats to six runs.
The Jumbos tacked on another run in the sixth on a groundout from graduate student infielder Ozzie Fleischer to score McKiernan.
Lapp pitched a complete game of seven innings with a final line of eight hits, two earned runs and six strikeouts.
Game 2 began just 35 minutes later, with graduate student righty pitcher Silas Reed seeking his third win of the season. Reed has put up at least seven strikeouts in each of his starts and shown dominance after a rocky first start against Eastern Connecticut State.
Reed gave up a left-field home run to the third batter before settling in.
Tufts struck back in the bottom of the third when Leonard followed a McCullough double with a sacrifice groundout to score the latter.
Reed struck out three consecutively in the fourth. In the bottom of the inning, first-year catcher Nick Banner scored first-year infielder James Henshon on an infield single.
Banner struck again in the bottom of the sixth with a right field single that scored senior outfielder Cooper Smith and gave the Jumbos a two-run lead.
Reed pitched a complete game, striking out a season high 13 batters and holding the Bobcats to four hits.
He earned the title of NESCAC pitcher of the week, the third Tufts pitcher to receive this honor this season, along with senior righty pitcher/infielder Connor Podeszwa and first-year righty pitcher Emmet Christian. His ERA decreased to 2.40 after this outing.
“I feel bad for opposing hitters whenever Silas is on the mound,” sophomore infielder/outfielder AJ Lysko wrote in an email to the Daily. “He controls every aspect of the game when he’s out there and brings an electrifying spark to the team.”
The Jumbos faced the Bobcats again in drizzly conditions at noon on Saturday.
Podeszwa got straight to work with three strikeouts in the first, and the offense came out strong to back him up.
Leonard and McCullough led off with back-to-back walks. Smith slapped a single to right center, scoring the former and advancing McCullough. Henshon then followed up with a sac fly to score McCullough. A base running out from senior infielder Henry Fleckner left the Jumbos two up at the end of the first — but they weren’t done yet.
After another 1-2-3 inning from Podeszwa, the offense kicked off another rally. Banner walked, setting up Brala to send a ball back to left field for a two-run home run.
Podeszwa’s dominance continued, with him not allowing a hit until a sixth-inning double.
Henshon led off the sixth with a walk but was caught stealing at second. Fleckner kept up the energy with a triple to left field. A double from Lysko brought Fleckner home, tacking on another run and giving the Jumbos a five-run lead.
In the seventh, Leonard reached on an error and advanced to second, then scored on a McCullough double down the right field line.
Bates attempted to come back in the eighth with a leadoff single and a hit-by-pitch that ended Podeszwa’s outing. The Bobcats could not convert the energy to runs, leaving two runners on base. A two-out solo home run in the ninth put their only run on the board.
Podeszwa struck out a season-high 11 batters and posted a season-low two hits to collect a win.
Tufts is currently ranked No. 2 in NESCAC East Division behind Bowdoin, who they will face in a three-game series on April 11 and 12.
Tufts will travel to Amherst this weekend for another NESCAC series, starting on Friday at 3:30 p.m. The Mammoths are ranked No. 3 in the NESCAC West.
In preparation for the second conference series, Lysko stressed the importance of the Jumbos bringing their best.
“We have all of the pieces to be a great team but need to bring our best in every game from here on out,” Lysko wrote. “Amherst is a good team and it’s going to be a good battle, but at the end of the day we just have to want it more.”
