MEDFORD, Mass. -- Down one game and four innings away from being wept in its best-of-three NESCAC Tournament quarterfinal with Tufts, the Amherst College baseball got off the deck by scoring eight runs over the final four innings to beat the Jumbos, 8-3, in the nightcap of a doubleheader at Gittleman Park.
The Mammoths forced a third and deciding game of the quarterfinal series, scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday. The Mammoths improved to 21-13-1 with the victory in the second game. Tufts is now 27-8 after the split twinbill.
GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS:
* Mammoth junior
Jacob Ribitzki was locked in a scoreless duel with Tufts' Silas Reed for 4 1/2 innings, but an opposite-field three-run homer off the bat of Jumbo Connor Flavin gave the hosts a 3-0 lead after five.
*
Jack Dove ignited the Amherst comeback with a lead-off single in the sixth. Cameron Mayer replaced Reed on the bump for Tufts.
Jackson Reydel singled. After an out,
Javier Irizarry walked to load the bases. A fly out to center left the runners stranded for the second out, but
Jack Sampedro chopped a grounder to third which was misplayed, allowing the Mammoths to put a single run on the scoreboard.
* In the Amherst seventh, trailing 3-1,
Ryan McIntyre led off with a single to right and stole second. After an out, he stole third. With two outs, Reydel hit a fly ball to left that eluded the Jumbo left field and fell for a run-scoring double.
Ben Smith was then hit by a pitch. Irizarry came through with a critical blow, driving the ball to deep center field. The Jumbos center fielder had a bead on it but the ball fell safely as he crashed into the fence, allowing both runners to score for a two-run double and a 4-3 Amherst lead.
* The Mammoths added three more runs in the eighth. Sampedro singled up the middle with one out. With two outs, McIntyre singled to shortstop and then stole second.
Luke Padian was intentionally walked to load the bases. A dropped throw at second which would have ended the inning allowed Sampedro to score for a 5-3 lead. Reydel made that error even more painful when he lined a two-run single up the middle for a 7-3 lead.
* In the bottom of the eighth, Tufts loaded the bases with two outs and
Alan Dai came on to replace Ribitzki. He faced one batter and struck him out on three pitches, getting a called third strike to end the threat.
* Amherst scored its final run in the ninth when McIntyre blasted an RBI triple to the deepest part of the ballpark.
* Ribitzki earned the win, going 7 2/3 innings and allowing eight hits while walking three and striking out five. He is now 4-2 on the season. Dai, who threw 1 1/3 shutout innings of relief, giving up no hits or runs while walking three and striking out three.
* Amherst had 13 hits in the win. McIntyre was 4 for 5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Reydel was 3 for 5 with 3 RBIs and one run scored. Sampedro was 2 for 6, making him 5 for 10 over the two games.
GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS:
* The day could not have begun better for the Mammoths as they produced a 6-0 after one-half inning Saturday.
* Sampedro opened the game with a single and McDermott followed with another. After an out, Padian ripped an RBI single into right field for a 1-0 lead. Dove followed with a single to right to score another. Reydel worked a walk that loaded the bases. After the second out,
Christian Fagnant drilled a 3-2 pitch way back and over the fence in right-center field for a grand slam home run and a 6-0 lead.
* Tufts' comeback began immediately in its half of the first inning when Jimmy Evans cracked a three-run homer to halve the Amherst lead.
* The Jumbos would go on to score three runs in the fourth to tie the game and two more in the bottom of the fifth to build an 8-6 lead en route to a 12-6 victory.
* Amherst had eight hit total in the loss, but no runs and three hits after the first inning as Tufts' Aidan Tucker threw five shutout innings of two-hit relief to improve to 4-0 on the season.
Naaveen Narayanan took the loss in relief of
Nicholas Giattino, falling to 1-1 on the season.
