AMHERST, Mass. -- Jeb Burkhart's one-out single through te drawn-in infield in the 10th inning Friday delivered the key run as Colby College edged the Amherst College baseball team, 3-2, in 10 innings at Memorial Field in game one of the best-of-three NESCAC Tournament quarterfinals.
Colby improved to 20-13 overall while Amherst fell to 22-12. The two teams are back on Memorial Field Saturday at 11 a.m. for game two. The Mammoths need to win to force a third-and-deciding contest which would start 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one if necessary.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
* Amherst took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second.
Justin Orridge and
Zander Carnahan opened the frame with singles and a wild pitch moved them to second and third. An error on a
Jack Darcy's grounder allowed him to reach as Orridge scored.
Ben Smith ten executed a safety squeeze bunt to score Carnahan for the two-run lead.
* Colby got one run back in the fourth when, with the bases loaded and one out, Mule lead-off hitter Patrick Shrake beat out a double-play grounder by an eyelash as a run scored.
* The Mules tied it with two outs in the top of the seventh when Tony Silva cracked a an RBI-double to right-center field. That ended the day for Amherst starter
Nick Fassert, who went 6 2/3 innings and allowed six hits and four walks, but just two runs, while fanning five batters.
* Colby starter Thomas Rioux went the first five for the Mules, dancing in and out of trouble but leaving after the fifth trailing only 2-1. He allowed three hits and two runs while walking five and striking out one. Kyle Bourque came on in the sixth and shut down the Mammoths over the next five frames, allowing three hits while walking one and striking out one. He improved to 3-1 on the season.
* The Mules infield defense played a big role in the win, turning five double plays. Shrake had 15 assists in the contest at shortstop.
* Amherst had the winning run on second with two outs in the bottom of the ninth after
Tyler McCord singled and stole second, but a grounder to Shrake ended it. The Mammoths had the tying run on second with one out in the 10th after Orridge led off with a single and was sacrificed to second by Carnahan, but Bourque induced back-to-back groundouts to Shrake to end the contest.
BY THE NUMBERS:
* Amherst had six hits. McCord and Orridge were each 2 for 4.
