MANSFIELD, CT - Top-seeded Tufts University (34-7, 10-2 NESCAC) temporarily staved off elimination with a 6-5 victory in 11 innings over #8 Saint Joseph's College (35-12, 11-3 GNAC) in the final loser's bracket contest of the 2010 NCAA DIII New England Regional Tournament on Saturday.
St. Joe's senior catcher Travis Adams (Saco, Me.) was 3-5 with a double and a solo home run and senior first baseman Ben Grant-Roy (Biddeford, Me.) went 3-6 with a pair of RBI for the Monks. SJC freshman starter Chad Rafferty (Keene, N.H.) allowed three earned runs off five hits and fanned seven in six innings and senior Pat Moran (Winterport, Me.) suffered the loss after giving up a run and two hits with two K's in 3.1 innings.
Tufts University senior first baseman Nate Bankoff (Lynnfield, Mass.) knocked in senior catcher Alex Perry (Danvers, Mass.) with the go-ahead run in the 11thand relief pitcher junior Ed Bernstein (Foxboro, Mass.) completed five shutout innings of work with a one-two-three inning in the bottom of the 11th to secure the one-run victory over the Monks and advance to the championship round against UMass-Boston.
Tufts saw its Regional Championship aspirations came to an end later in the day, however, as #7 UMass-Boston defeated the Jumbos, 12-6, in first game of the championship round. For the Beacons, the trip to the NCAA DIII World Series is a program-first.
Perry began the top of the 11thwith a walk issued by Moran and was advanced to second by senior second baseman Alex Grzymala's (East Setauket, N.Y.) sacrifice bunt. Moran got the second out of the inning on a fly ball to center before Bankoff launched a deep fly to right-center field. The ball appeared playable at first but ended up landing between the St. Joe's outfielders near the fence for a double, the second two-bagger of the game for Bankoff and his third hit. He also knocked in four of the Jumbos' six runs.
Bernstein, making his 18threlief appearance of the season for Tufts, got a pair of routine fly balls to right field and his eighth strikeout of the game in the bottom of the 11th to improve his season record to 4-0. Moran falls to 7-2 with the losing effort. The senior right-hander had pitched nine innings on Thursday in a no-decision outing during St. Joe's 5-4 win over Worcester St. in 12 innings.
St. Joe's got it rolling in the bottom of the 1stinning as junior shortstop Chris Campbell (Rochester, N.H.) picked up his fifth hit of the tournament, a line double into the left-center field gap. After moving to third on a fine sacrifice bunt by senior second baseman Mike Burdin (Gardiner, Me.), Campbell scooted home on a bouncer up the middle by Grant-Roy, which squirted through for an RBI single.
The Monks got a solo shot over the right-field fence from Adams in the 2nd, his fourth home run of the 2010 campaign, to up the St. Joe's lead to 2-0. In the meantime, starting Monk hurler freshman Chad Rafferty (Keene, N.H.) retired six of the first seven Jumbos he faced, two by strikeout, to establish a good rhythm.
A slight loss of control to begin the top of the 3rdcame back to hurt Rafferty as he issued a walk to Tufts leadoff batter Perry, then uncorked a wild pitch to put Perry at second. Two outs later with Perry at third, Bankoff drove him in with a double to left-center field, cutting the margin in half at 2-1.
Grant-Roy added a single to center in the 3rd, advancing junior right fielder Todd Keneborus (Hollis Center, N.H.) to third base. Keneborus had picked up his 10thhit of the regional with a single to right with two outs. Tufts starter junior Pat O'Donnell (Worcester, Mass.) got of the jam with a groundout to shortstop.
Such was not the case in the 4thas O'Donnell was chased from the mound when the Monks pushed over their third run and had runners at first and second with two outs. O'Donnell gave way to sophomore Jake Crawford (Boise, Idaho). Crawford then walked Burdin to load the bases and threw a pitch into the dirt that eluded Perry for another run before striking out Keneborus to leave it 4-1 in favor of St. Joe's. A double off the right-field fence by Adams was followed by a fielding error on a grounder by freshman third baseman Mike Pratt (Dartmouth, Mass.), allowing Adams to score. Pratt made it home on the wild pitch.
After yielding the RBI double to Bankoff in the 3rd, Rafferty settled back in to put down seven Jumbos in a row in support of the 4-1 St. Joe's edge. Rafferty entered the game with a lofty 6.21 ERA in 10 previous appearances with eight starts, but looked masterful through five innings with two hits allowed, six groundouts and six strikeouts.
Tufts ended Rafferty's run when junior shortstop Dave LeResche (St. Louis, Mo.) blooped a single into center field leading off the 6th. The Jumbos eventually got runners to second and third in the frame with two outs, but Rafferty threw a brilliant pitch on a 3-2 count to whiff junior left fielder Ian Goldberg (Lake Forest, Ill.) for his seventh strikeout.
When Tufts opened the 7thwith a junior center fielder David Orlowitz (Wakefield, Mass.) single and a walk to senior designated hitter Corey Pontes (Milton, Mass.), Rafferty gave way to junior reliever Mason Roberge (Franklin, N.H.). Roberge lasted just four batters as Perry met him with a single through the right side to load the bases. A sacrifice fly to center field by Grzymala brought in Orlowitz with the second Jumbo run. Then with two outs, Bankoff made it a new game with a two-run single up the middle, tying the game 4-4 as Pontes and Perry crossed the plate. Roberge exited in favor of lefty senior Andrew Keirstead (Westbrook, Me.), who gave up a single to center field to sophomore third baseman Sam Sager (Cranston, R.I.), sending Keirstead to the bench. Junior Kevin Chamberlain (Scarborough, Me.) took to the hill and struck out junior right fielder Chase Rose (Scottsdale, Ariz.) to end the inning. Rafferty gave up five hits and three runs in his six innings on the mound but ended up with no decision.
St. Joe's regained the lead in the 7th as Burdin scored following his single to left, a walk to Keneborus and an RBI grounder past second base for the 5-4 lead by Grant-Roy. Grant-Roy leads all players in the tournament for hits with 12. Though Bernstein gave up the go-ahead RBI after entering the game with a runner at first, he proceeded to strike out the side to avoid further damage.
Tufts came right back to even the count at 5-5 in the 8thwith a pair of safeties after two outs. Pontes lashed a double down the left-field line and was pulled for pinch-runner junior Derek Miller (Whitman, Mass.) Perry then got the job down with a line single into center field to plate Miller. Moran, who had started the game as the designated hitter, came in to pitch for the Monks and got the final out on a strikeout with runners at second and third.
Though the Monks got their leadoff man, senior center fielder Craig Woodbrey (Gorham, Me.) on in the 8thand sacrificed him to second, Bernstein upped his strikeout total to five with a pair of Ks to end the stanza. Neither team got a man into scoring position again until extra innings.
COURTESY OF NEW ENGLAND REGIONAL SPORTS INFORMATION
