April 17, 2004
AMHERST, MA - The Amherst College baseball team split a NESCAC West Division doubleheader with visiting Hamilton College (6-16/3-6 NESCAC) on Saturday. The host Jeffs took the seven-inning opener 6-0 behind a four-hit, complete-game pitching performance by senior co-captain Duncan Webb (Lynn, MA), but left 13 runners on base and surrendered four runs in the top of the 10th inning en route to an 8-4 loss in the nightcap. Amherst (10-10/3-3 NESCAC) won the first game of the three-game set on Friday, 15-2.
Amherst took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first in Game 1 when senior centerfielder Paul Whiting (Mission Viejo, CA) drove an RBI triple to straightaway centerfield and trotted home on a single by sophomore first baseman Dave Levinson (Philadelphia, PA). Whiting wreaked havoc again in the third, reaching on a leadoff single, stealing second, advancing to third on a Levinson groundout and scoring on a passed ball. Amherst senior co-captain catcher Tom Sullivan (Tewksbury, MA) made it 5-0 in the fourth with a two-run double, driving home junior third baseman Josh Santry (Allendale, NJ) and sophomore shortstop Zach Schonberger (Rye, NY). Schonberger then capped the scoring with his second double of the game - a two-out, RBI shot in the bottom of the fifth inning that gave the Jeffs a 6-0 lead they would never relinquish.
Meanwhile, Webb (4-3) cruised, scattering four hits with two strikeouts and a walk. Senior Matt Keough (Jamesville, NY) took the loss for Hamilton to fall to 0-1. Rookie John Porges (Short Hills, NJ) pitched two innings after relieving Keough in the sixth.
Schonberger and Whiting each finished 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Jeffs.
Game 2 was a frustrating affair for Amherst. With the scored knotted 4-4, the Jeffs left the bases loaded in both the seventh and ninth innings and had runners on first and second in the seventh, but came away empty on all three occasions against Hamilton reliever Chris Keen (Port Washington, NY). Hamilton finally broke through with four runs in the 10th on a backbreaking two-run single by rookie shortstop James Nolan (Lynnfield, MA) and a two-run double by first-year catcher Tom Tidgwell (Southbury, MA), both off Amherst sophomore reliever Joe Vladeck (Washington, DC), who took the loss to fall to 0-3.
Amherst senior Andy Kerns (Barrington, IL) drew the Game 2 start and pitched into the eighth inning before giving way to Vladeck. Kerns struck out eight and gave up four runs (three earned) on just four Hamilton hits. Junior starter Paul Kibbe (Albany, NY) pitched into the seventh for Hamilton, yielding four earned runs on seven Amherst hits before giving way to Keen (1-0).
Santry double twice for Amherst in defeat, while Whiting went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Senior rightfielder Tom Bradley (Great Falls, VA) homered, drove in three runs and scored a pair for Hamilton.
Amherst returns to action with a non-league tilt Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. at 12th-ranked Trinity College.
Game 1 Box Score/Play-by-Play
Game 2 Box Score/Play-by-Play
