MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME BASEBALL

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Huskins Field, Medford, Mass.

FINAL:                                   TUFTS 11, MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 5

                                                                                123         456         789                         R             H             E

Massachusetts Maritime (5-5)                          102         000         020         -               5              7              2

Tufts (6-4-1)                                                          000         331         22x         -               11           11           1

BATTERIES

MMA:      Keith Sanchez, Patrick Derrane (5), Jared Lowe (6), Neil Patnaude (7),

                Chris Gallagher (8) and Ben Maher, Hunter Horton (8)

TUF:       Derek Miller, Christian Sbily (3), Dave Ryan (5), Jake Crawford (6), Alex Cronkite (7),

                Dean Lambert (8), Edward Bernstein (9) and Matt Collins

WP:         Ryan (2-0)             LP:          Sanchez (1-1)     

Home Runs:         MMA – Zachary Sullivan (1); TUF – Matt Collins (1)

MEDFORD, Mass. --  Junior Matt Collins (Hopkinton, Mass.) rapped out a pair of hits, including a three-run homer, and drove in five runs to lead Tufts to an 11-5 non-league college baseball victory over Massachusetts Maritime Wednesday afternoon at Huskins Field.

The host Jumbos (6-4-1) overcame a 3-0 fourth inning deficit by scoring seven runs in the middle innings of play, as the visiting Buccaneers (5-5) grabbed a 1-0 lead in their first at-bat when junior Andrew DiNisco (Malden, Mass.) led off the game with a double and scored on senior Nick Levitre’s (Grafton, Mass.) RBI single.   Massachusetts Maritime extended that margin to 3-0 in the third on an RBI single by sophomore Zachary Sullivan (Barnstable, Mass.) and a run-scoring groundout by Levitre, but Tufts evened matters in the fourth on an RBI single by sophomore Tom Howard (Rockville Centre, N.Y.), a sacrifice fly by senior Ian Goldberg (Lake Forest, Ill.) and a run-scoring double off the bat of Collins, who gave the Jumbos the lead for good with his three-run round-tripper in the fifth.  The hosts plated a single run in the sixth and two more tallies in the seventh before the Buccaneers closed back to within 9-5 in the top of the eighth on Sullivan’s first home run of the season (a two-run shot), and Tufts closed out the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the frame on an RBI single by junior Sam Sager (Cranston, R.I.) and a Collins sacrifice fly.

Howard collected three of Tufts’ 11 hits on the afternoon, as Sager and senior Frank Petroskey (Dallas, Tex.) each drove in two runs for the hosts, who also received a pair of hits off the bat of senior Chase Rose (Paradise Valley, Ariz.).  Junior Dave Ryan (Trumbull, Conn.), the third of seven Jumbo hurlers on the day, earned his second win of the season by tossing a scoreless fifth frame.

Sullivan and Levitre combined for four hits and five RBI in the setback for Massachusetts Maritime, which also received a pair of hits off the bat of DiNisco as part of a seven-hit attack.  Freshman Keith Sanchez (Monroe Township, N.J.) suffered the setback on the mound for the Buccaneers, allowing six hits and fanning three to fall to 1-1 on the season.

Massachusetts Maritime opens MASCAC play on Saturday afternoon by hosting MCLA in a league twinbill at Commodore Hendy Field beginning at 1:00 p.m., while Tufts opens NESCAC action on Friday afternoon by hosting Bates in a conference outing that begins at 3:00 p.m.