Box Score Courtesy of Wesleyan Sports Information
NASHUA, N.H. - Earning the opportunity to avenge an earlier tournament loss to undefeated Wesleyan University (2-0), Amherst College (2-1) came through with a 6-5 victory over Bates College in the final elimination game of the NESCAC Baseball Tournament at Holman Stadium.
Wesleyan and Amherst, which played to a 4-2 Wesleyan win earlier in the day, will begin play Sunday at 10 a.m. with an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament on the line. If Wesleyan wins the 10 a.m. battle, the Cardinals will claim their second straight conference crown. A win by Amherst would force another game immediately afterwards with the winner securing the title.
Joining forces with 5.1 innings of scoreless relief pitching for Amherst vs. Bates were freshman Sam Schneider, who upped his record to 3-1 with the win, and junior Riley Streit, who picked up his second save of the tournament. They allowed just one hit with five strikeouts between them. Schneifer went 2.1 innings and Steit the final 3.0 after sophomore Jackson Volle started the game, yielding 11 hits and five runs in 3.2 innings.
Amherst (25-12 overall) never trailed in the game, leading by as much as four, 5-1, heading into the bottom of the third inning. A three-run third inning for the Lord Jeffs did the early damage as a single by freshman Harry Roberson, a stolen base and RBI single by sophomore Yanni Thanopoulos got the inning started. A two-run single to center field sophomore Anthony Spina capped the scoring and it proved to be the deciding hit in the contest.
Bates, which finished the season 17-20, scored in the bottom of the third with three straight singles from seniors Nate Pajka, Nate Berry and Rockwell Jackson made it 5-2 but Amherst got the run back in the top of the fourth with a walk to senior Eric West and singles by Roberson and junior Andrew Vandini.
Bates closed to within a run in the bottom of the fourth, all with one swing of the bat as Berry blasted his second three-run homer of the tournament, his seventh of the year. Scoring ahead of Berry were senior Mekae Hyde and sophomore Ryan McCarthy, both of whom singled.
Amherst had jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first behind a Roberson single and stolen base, and RBI single by junior Mike Odenwaelder. When Odenwaelder also stole second, he moved to third on a bad throw and raced home on a groundout for the two-run edge.
A McCarthy double and RBI single by Jackson got Bates within a run at 2-1 in the bottom of the first.
Neither team scored over the final five innings despite a few modest threats, including Amherst stranding a pair in the top of the ninth. Bates got one runner on base in the bottom of the ninth as McCarthy got his third hit of the game, but got no further. Jackson also had three hits for the Bobcats, who outhit the Lord Jeffs, 12-9.
Junior Chris Ward tossed five scoreless innings of relief for Bates, permitting two hits with seven strikeouts as senior Will Levangie took the loss, allowing seven hits and six runs, just three of them earned, over his four innings, as he fell to 2-3.
