Rain Forces Cancellation of Final Day of Baseball Championship - Tufts Awarded Title

AMHERST, Mass. – Rain won out on the final day of the NESCAC Baseball Championship, forcing the cancellation of the title game between Bowdoin and Tufts after it had been delayed by nearly three and a half hours.

Per conference rules, Tufts has been awarded the conference championship and will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

This is the second consecutive NESCAC title for the Jumbos, and the third overall crown for the program. Tufts' first title, in 2002, was awarded when the tournament could not be completed due to inclement weather.

Finally on the field following the delayed start, Tufts wasted no time getting on the board, pushing five across in the bottom half of the first before rain once again halted play. Senior David LeResche (St. Louis Mo.) led-off with an infield single to short before fellow senior David Orlowitz (Wakefield, Mass.) ripped a ball to right, putting two aboard. Bowdoin starter Evan Farley (Hampden, Maine) then hit junior Sam Sager (Cranston, R.I.), loading the bases for senior Chase Rose (Paradise Valley, Ariz.), who hammered a ground-rule double to center, plating LeResche and Orlowitz.

With the bases again full with just one out, freshman Nick Cutsumpas (White Plains, N.Y.) hit a grounder to third, pushing across another tally before sophomore Tom Howard (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) belted a bases-clearing, two-out double to right to extend the margin to five just prior to the stoppage.

The Jumbos, by virtue of their 2-0 mark heading into the final day of competition, captured their second consecutive conference crown despite today's rain-shortened affair. Tufts won its tournament opener against Middlebury College 14-2 on Friday afternoon, before defeating the Polar Bears 4-2 in yesterday's 12-inning affair. The Jumbos, now 26-7-1 overall, will receive the league's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Bowdoin, which went 2-1 in the 2011 tournament with a loss to Tufts and a pair of wins over host Amherst College, sits at 24-14 overall on the year and will wait to hear about a possible at-large bid.

Tufts earned the 2011 crown based on its game four victory over Bowdoin on Saturday at Amherst. The Jumbos scored twice in the top of the 12th inning to break a 2-2 tie and went on to win, 4-2.

2011 NESCAC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Day 1 - Friday, May 13
Game 1 - E2 Bowdoin 9, at W1 Amherst 8
Game 2 - E1 Tufts 14, vs. W2 Middlebury 2

Day 2 - Saturday, May 14
Game 3 - W1 Amherst 7, vs. W2 Middlebury 3
Game 4 - E1 Tufts 4, vs. E2 Bowdoin 2 - 12 innings
Game 5 - E2 Bowdoin 6, vs. W1 Amherst - 10 innings

Day 3 - Sunday, May 15
Rained Out - Tufts Declared Champion