Winter is still in full force on the hill. But in Virginia, its baseball season.
The baseball team escaped the New England tundra yesterday morning and flew into Richmond to play Castleton tonight at 6 p.m. in Newport News, Va. The Jumbos will play 13 games in 10 days on their annual spring break trip, putting their preseason training most of which has occurred indoors to the test.
The Jumbos have a history of hot starts over spring break. Last season they won their first five games, outscoring opponents 44-19, before losing five of their next six. Tonight they seek their fifth straight win in a season opener.
After missing out on the NESCAC playoffs the past two seasons, the Jumbos want to avoid a third straight disappointing finish. Only four players on the roster seniors Nick Cutsumpas, Eric Robinson, Tim Mitropoulos and co-captain Christian Sbily were on the team in 2011 when Tufts won its second consecutive and third-ever NESCAC title.
In 2013, Tufts finished 22-13 overall and 7-5 in the NESCAC East division, just one game behind Trinity and Bowdoin.
Many of last years regulars are back, including second team all-NESCAC third baseman and junior co-captain Wade Hauser, who led the team in RBIs (24), home runs (3) and slugging percentage (.500) while batting .358.
Also returning are sophomore center fielder Connor McDavitt (team-high 23 walks), senior first baseman Max Freccia (team-high .373 average in 18 games) and junior right fielder James Howard.
On the mound, sophomore right-hander Andrew David returns after a stellar freshman year (5-2, 2.58 ERA), along with right-hander Sbily (3-2, 2.62 ERA), junior southpaw Kyle Slinger (4-2, 2.71 ERA) and junior right-hander Matt Moser (five saves, team-best 1.96 ERA).
Opportunities are also abound for the nine freshmen on the roster, seven of whom are listed as pitchers some with slashes in their positional descriptions. One or two could find his way into the rotation, just as David did last year.
Among the notable absences are seniors Nate Izzo and Dean Lambert, an outfielder and a pitcher. The departure of shortstop Scott Staniewicz (E 13), the catalyst at the top of the Jumbos 2013 lineup, also leaves a middle-infield spot up for grabs.
The Jumbos NESCAC schedule begins in two weeks with a three-game series at Bates on March 28 and 29.
