Baseball Championship Heads to Tufts This Weekend

Bowdoin Back Among Contenders After Two-Year Absence

HADLEY, Mass. – Tufts University will look to earn its second conference crown this weekend when the Jumbos host the 2010 NESCAC Baseball Championship. The three-day tournament pits the top two teams from the East and West Divisions against one another in a double-elimination style format. The action begins on Friday afternoon with Tufts taking on Wesleyan at Huskins Field in Medford, Mass., while Bowdoin will meet Williams at Bentley University in Waltham. The 2010 NESCAC Baseball Championship concludes on Sunday, May 9.

Tufts (28-5, 10-2 NESCAC East) is in the midst of a record-breaking season. Since returning from spring break, the Jumbos have gone 20-3 with an 11-game winning streak at one point. Tufts locked up hosting duties in this year’s tournament by taking two-of-three games against Bowdoin on April 23-24. On Tuesday afternoon, Tufts extended its current unbeaten streak to seven as it downed Bentley 13-7 and established a new program record for wins in the process with its 28th. Although the Jumbos have only one NESCAC championship to their credit, that being the rain-shortened 2002 tournament, they join Trinity as having the most appearances in the final with five. During last year’s championship, Tufts came close to forcing Trinity to play a seventh game but a late grand slam gave the Bantams a 7-3 win and their second-straight league title. Pitching has been a key to tournament success in recent years and the Jumbos appear poised to capitalize with the benefit of their strong arms. Dave Ryan (Trumbull, Conn.), Derek Miller (Whitman, Mass.) and Pat O’Donnell  (Worcester, Mass.) highlight the Tufts’ staff and are a combined 11-3 as regular starters. Ryan owns a solid 3.09 ERA, while Miller has a 3.43 ERA as he has held opponents to a .238 average. O’Donnell is not far behind his counterparts with a 4.32 ERA over 10 appearances. From the bullpen, sophomore Chris DeGoti (Miami, Fla.) has been reliable when needed. In 15 appearances, DeGoti has recorded a single-season record nine saves and is 1-1 with a 0.57 ERA.

The only other team besides Tufts in this weekend’s championship that has won a NESCAC title is Williams (22-10-1, 10-2 NESCAC West). The Ephs’ two conference crowns have both come against the Jumbos, as Williams defeated Tufts 8-5 in the inaugural tournament in 2001 and by the same score for the 2007 championship. Last May, Williams opened in game one with an 18-5 win over Tufts but later suffered a season-ending loss to the Jumbos in game five, 15-9. Like the Jumbos, the Ephs have been on a roll as of late with wins in 14 of their last 16 games, most recently falling to Westfield St. 8-7. Among this weekend’s opponents, Williams has only faced Wesleyan but earned a sweep against the Cardinals by winning all three meetings. The Ephs feature the best offense in the conference with a combined .357 batting average, recording 71 doubles and 34 triples through 33 games. Two-time All-NESCAC honoree Al Mathews (North Hampton, N.H.) has put up impressive numbers in his senior season. The outfielder leads the league in batting with a .507 average and 68 hits. He has also reached base at a .543 percent clip. Junior teammates Pat Barren (Worthington, Ohio) and James Allison (Amherst, Mass.) are also among the top hitters in the league at the moment, as Barren’s .427 average is just above Allison’s .426.

After appearing in the NESCAC championship for the first time in four years last spring, Wesleyan (22-12, 7-5 NESCAC West) returns with the most wins in a single season since 1994. The Cardinals made a quick exit from the tournament at Williams a year ago with two losses, falling to eventual champion Trinity 13-6 in the opening game before succumbing to Tufts in an elimination contest 15-10. Wesleyan will look to not only get a bit of revenge in Friday’s outing against the Jumbos but will also hope to get back on track after falling in five of its last six games. The Cardinals wrapped up the regular season by splitting the annual series with rival Trinity, winning the first game 8-0 before losing a slugfest in the second 18-12. Wesleyan has been streaky at times this spring. The Cardinals opened their season 10-0 for the first time in 22 years but have also battled through brief four-game losing streaks. Statistically, Wesleyan features an offense that ranks just behind Williams among conference squads with a combined .351 average and a league-leading on-base percentage of .454. Leading the Cardinals has been the dependable bat of junior Julian Sonnenfeld (Aberdeen, N.J.). With a batting average of .437 and an on-base mark of .543, Sonnenfeld has already set the single-season mark for doubles at Wesleyan with a conference-best 25 to date. He also ranks among the league leaders in hits (55), home runs (8), walks (32), runs scored (51) and runs batted in (49). On the mound, sophomore Brett Yarusi (Belmar, N.J.) has earned a 7-2 record over nine starts with a 3.44 ERA.

Bowdoin (23-13, 6-6 NESCAC East) grabbed the last spot in this year’s championship by taking two-of-three games from Bates during the final weekend of the regular season. Although the Polar Bears, Bobcats, and the Bantams of Trinity all tied with identical 6-6 records in the East Division, the Polar Bears had the tie-breaker with 2-1 series wins over both opponents. After starting the season strong, Bowdoin has come up short eight times over its most recent 12 games, falling to Southern Maine 4-3 on Tuesday. Friday’s showdown with Williams, the first between the two squads this spring, may be just what the Polar Bears need to get back on track. Bowdoin is 2-1 against Williams on the first day of the tournament, taking the opening game in 2004 and again in 2006 before falling 1-0 to the Ephs in 2007. While the Polar Bears are seventh statistically in offense with a team average of .311 at the plate, the pitching staff is among the best in the league with a 4.29 ERA and an impressive average of 8.25 strikeouts per nine innings. Senior Carter Butland (Columbus, Ohio) and freshman Oliver Van Zant (Westport, Conn.) head up a group that hopes to silence their opponents’ bats this weekend. Butland sits atop the list of NESCAC hurlers with a 2.57 ERA and a 3-2 overall record. Van Zant has enjoyed a successful rookie campaign, owning an even 3.00 ERA with a 5-1 mark and 51 strikeouts over seven appearances, nearly 12 K’s per game.

The top two teams from the East and West divisions earn the right to participate in the tournament. The host site rotates between divisions on an annual basis, with the top team in the East Division earning the right to host the event this season. On Saturday, the two losing teams from Friday’s action will meet at Bentley at 10:30 a.m., while the two winners from Friday will clash at Tufts’ Huskins Field at 10:30 a.m. The winner from Saturday’s game at Bentley will take on the losing team from the morning game at Huskins Field at 2:30 p.m at Tufts. The team that advances out of the final game on Saturday will face the remaining unbeaten team in the field on Sunday at 10:00 a.m., with a second game to follow if necessary.

2010 NESCAC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Day 1 - Friday, May 7
Game 1 - W2 Wesleyan at E1 Tufts - 3:00 p.m. - at Tufts, Medford, Mass.
Game 2 - E2 Bowdoin vs. W1 Williams - 3:00 p.m. - at Bentley, Waltham, Mass.

Day 2 - Saturday, May 8
Game 3 - Loser of GM 1 vs. Loser of GM 2 - 10:30 a.m. - at Bentley, Waltham, Mass.
Game 4 - Winner of GM 1 vs. Winner of GM 2 - 10:30 a.m. - at Tufts, Medford, Mass.
Game 5 - Winner of GM 3 vs. Loser of GM 4 - 2:30 p.m. - at Tufts, Medford, Mass.

Day 3 - Sunday, May 9
Game 6 - Winner of GM 4 vs. Winner of GM 5 - 10:00 a.m.
Game 7 - If Necessary - Immediately Following