AMHERST, Mass. – The Amherst College baseball team secured the No. 2 seed in the NESCAC West division is set to travel to host Colby College for the three-day, double-elimination 2017 NESCAC Championship tournament this weekend, May 12-14.
The Mammoths will open the tournament against East No. 1 seed Tufts on Friday, May 12 at 7 p.m. at Coombs Field.
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LIVE COVERAGE
All games will be webcasted by the Northeast Sports Network (NSN) at nsnsports.net/conferences/NESCAC.
AMHERST - NO. 2 SEED NESCAC WEST
Amherst (19-14 overall, 8-4 NESCAC West) is set to make the program's 13th NESCAC Championship appearance, and seventh consecutive trip to the league playoffs. Owning a 19-17 all-time record in the conference postseason, the Mammoths hit the diamond looking to capture their fourth NESCAC title, and first since the 2013 season.
Riding a two-game win streak, Amherst heads into playoff action owning a NESCAC-leading .320 batting average and .438 slugging percentage in addition to a .388 on base percentage (third in NESCAC).
Leading the conference in batting average (.429), hits (57), and RBIs (37), senior outfielder Yanni Thanopoulos paces the Mammoth offense, while Anthony Spina '17 and Harry Roberson '18 are hitting .369 and .363 on the year, respectively, and bolster a solid Amherst lineup at the plate.
On the mound, Drew Fischer '18 (1-0) leads the Mammoths with a 1.37 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 19.2 innings, while Jackson Volle '17 (5-1) has posted four complete games in seven starts to log a 2.74 ERA and a 6.75 K/9 average. Junior Sam Schneider (2-1) owns a 3.58 ERA in eight appearances and has racked up 22 strikeouts in 27.2 innings, while first-year Zach Horwitz (2-0) has made 11 appearances with 19 strikeouts over 29.2 innings.
THE REST OF THE NESCAC CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD
Middlebury (18-13, 8-4 NESCAC West) meets Bates (14-13, 7-5 NESCAC East) in the opening game of the championship. The Panthers are making their first tournament appearance since 2011 and Friday marks the first meeting against the Bobcats in the postseason. After a 2-4 start to the conference schedule, the Panthers won eight of the next nine and earned the top seed in the West by winning two out of three games against Amherst. Senior Jason Lock (Foster City, Calif.) has started 29 games for the Panthers and is batting .390, while slugging .562. He has 41 hits, including a league-leading 12 doubles, and 30 RBIs. Sophomore Sam Graf (Loma, Colo.) ranks third on the team in hitting with a .333 average and has rapped out 34 hits. He is tied for the team lead in home runs (3) and runs scored (29) and has 22 RBIs. Sophomore Colby Morris (Ross, Calif.) and first-year Spencer Shores (Roslyn Heights, N.Y.) lead the pitching staff for the Panthers. Morris has three wins in 49.1 innings on the mound and has fanned 32 hitters this season. Shores is 4-0 on the hill and has 36 strikeouts over 39.2 innings of work.
Bates is chasing its first NESCAC title. The Bobcats are making their third appearance in the conference tournament in four years. Bates got off to a 6-0 start in the division with sweeps of Colby and Bowdoin. Rookie Will Sylvia (Newton, Mass.) owns a .327 batting average and is in 21 games. He ranks third on the team with 18 hits, while scoring 13 runs. First-year Jack Arend (Newfields, N.H.) has driven in a team-best 15 RBIs. Junior Connor Speed (San Diego, Calif.) and senior Anthony Telesca (Holtsville, N.Y.) lead Bates on the mound. Speed has tallied a team-high 36 strikeouts and owns a 2.06 ERA in eight starts and 43.2 innings of action. Telesca has struck out 23 hitters in his six starts and earned three wins this year.
Tufts (25-6-1, 9-3 NESCAC East) will face Amherst (17-13, 8-4 NESCAC West) on the opening day of the championship for the fourth straight year. The teams are 5-5 versus each other in the postseason. Last season, the Jumbos earned a 5-4 win over the Mammoths in their drive to the 2016 title. Tufts is making its ninth appearance as the tournament's top seed in the East Division, and its conference-best 14th overall appearance. Tufts heads to Colby having won six of its last seven NESCAC divisional games, with the lone setback coming in a 3-2 decision versus Bowdoin on April 23. The Jumbos' pitching staff has combined 3.27 ERA. Seniors Speros Varinos (Middleton, Mass.) and Tim Superko (Wellesley, Mass.) are unbeaten on the hill. Varinos leads the NESCAC in both ERA (1.58) and wins with an 8-0 record. He has also registered a league-best 64 strikeouts in 57 innings of work. Superko is 5-0 in eight appearances and has fanned 46 batters in 42.2 innings. Sophomore Will Shackelford (Orleans, Mass.) and junior Nick Falkson (Dedham, Mass.) pace the Jumbo offense. Shackelford leads the NESCAC with a .421 batting average and is slugging .579 in 26 games, while Falkson has started all 31 contests and is batting .398 with 49 hits, 29 runs scored and 34 RBIs, which is second in the league.
