Barring extreme circumstances, most Major League Baseball teams don't play more than three doubleheaders in a season. The No. 25 Tufts baseball team will soon play three in a span of eight days.
That trio of twinbills — at Colby on Saturday, at UMass-Dartmouth on Monday and at Wesleyan on April 23 — is just part of a grueling stretch during which the baseball team will play 10 games in nine days.
The loaded slate is the result of rainy weather that postponed both of last week's games against Brandeis and Daniel Webster, as well as Wednesday's matchup with Bentley. Those contests have been rescheduled for consecutive days, from April 20-22. Combined with the doubleheader against Wesleyan on April 23, the revised docket will have Tufts on the field for four straight days, a similar experience to the season-opening spring trip in Virginia and North Carolina.
As the innings mount, pitching depth will become crucial and some of the arms may be asked to work in unfamiliar roles or stay out for more innings than coach John Casey typically asks of them.
Fortunately for NESCAC East-leading Tufts, Casey will have plenty of quality options at his disposal. The Jumbos' pitchers have combined to post a 2.96 team ERA so far. Of the seven Jumbos who have worked at least 10 innings in 2011, six have an ERA under 4.00, and the seventh — junior starter David Ryan — is nonetheless a perfect 3-0.
Meanwhile, the bullpen, led by senior closer Ed Bernstein, has not been charged with a run since March 30, a six-game span. Its success has been a key ingredient in the team's current nine-game winning streak.
Tufts (12-4-1 overall, 6-0 NESCAC East) meets Colby (10-10, 0-3) this weekend and will look for its starters to keep eating innings; in the past six games, the bullpen has pitched just eight innings. If that trend continues, the Jumbos should escape the upcoming marathon no worse for the wear.
With a strong performance in Waterville, Maine this afternoon and tomorrow, the Jumbos will be on the verge of clinching a second consecutive No. 1 seed in the NESCAC Tournament.
