Captains defeat Jumbos 5-3

Mark Graziano/The Captain's Log

The fifth-ranked Captains Baseball team extended their win streak to 26 games on Friday afternoon, after winning 5-3 against the 16th-ranked Tufts University Jumbos.

Tufts came out strong in the first inning, showing no fear of the high-ranked Captains, putting two runners on against senior pitcher Tyler McElhenny. After a wild pitch by McElhenny, Jumbo’s third baseman Sam Sager scored on a fielder’s choice, giving Tufts a 1-0 lead.

The Captains answered in the bottom half of the inning, on clutch hitting with two outs. Senior center fielder Drue Vernon was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Freshman Billy Steele walked, giving the Captains two runners on with no outs. That quickly changed as Tufts recorded two quick outs, thinking they could halt the Captains’ rally.

Junior first baseman Steven Lindemuth thought differently, as he delivered the first two-out single of the inning, scoring Vernon from second and advancing junior centerfielder Ben Lenda. Junior second baseman Matt Shoemaker hit a single to left, scoring Lenda and giving the Captains a 2-1 lead heading to the top of the second.

McElhenny could not preserve the lead that he was given going into the top of the second, as Tufts was able to add two more runs. McElhenny allowed a leadoff double to centerfielder Ian Goldberg and then retired the next two Jumbo hitters in order.

A wild pitch to senior second baseman Frank Petroskey allowed Goldberg to advance to third, and on the next pitch, Petroskey hit a two-out double to tie the game at 2-2. Leadoff hitter and senior shortstop David Lereche delivered the second two-out double of the inning scoring Petroskey and giving Tufts a one-run lead.

The pitchers for both teams settled down, and were able to hold each other scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning. Steele lead off the bottom of the inning with a booming stand up triple that banged off the right field fence. Steele came across tying the game after sacrifice fly by Lenda to right field, bringing the score to 3-3.

The Jumbos brought in freshman pitcher Christian Sbily to close out the game for them, and he looked strong, retiring the first six Captains he faced in order. Sbily allowed junior third baseman Luke Saunders a single to start the inning. Lenda then reached on a fielder’s choice, running out what could have been a double play, as Saunders was retired at second.

Lindemuth stepped to the plate and delivered the go-ahead RBI, smashing a double to right field, scoring Lenda and giving the Captains a 4-3 lead. Shoemaker would add an insurance run, scoring Lindemuth on a double, leading the Captains to a 5-3 win. “It was a tough win, but showed we don’t have to win every game by 10 runs,” said Shoemaker.

“This team showed why they are the No. 5 team in the nation right now, they have pitching, they have hitting, and they are mentally tough,” said Tufts Head Coach John Casey. The Captains tried to extend their win streak on Saturday against Averett, but they ended up splitting the double header. Captains’ Head Coach John Harvell did earn his 298th career win. He will go for his 300th against Shenandoah this weekend.

Posted by Brent Furbee on Mar 30 2011. Filed under Baseball, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.