March 15, 2010
Box Score
AUBURNDALE, FL - The Amherst College baseball team rallied for five runs in the seventh inning to come back for a 10-7 victory over University of Massachusetts Boston today in Auburndale, FL at Lake Myrtle Park in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. The Lord Jeffs improve to a perfect 4-0, while the Beacons fall to 1-2 on the season.
Amherst faced a 6-4 deficit heading into the top of the seventh inning, before loading the bases with no outs when junior shortstop Jose Espinosa (Ridgefield, CT) drew a leadoff walk, sophomore left fielder John Wagner (Evanston, IL) singled and senior second baseman Will Lawton (Newton, MA) reached on a bunt single. Sophomore designated hitter Thomas Wheeler (Minnetonka, MN) brought the Lord Jeffs a run closer with a sacrifice fly to center, before junior center fielder Scott Shaffer (Boulder, CO) put them on top with a single to center field that was mishandled by the UMass Boston center fielder to result in two runs and a 7-6 lead. Amherst tacked on two more runs with Shaffer on third when freshman third baseman Nolan Stewart (New Canaan, CT) singled to center and sophomore catcher Mike Samela (Westport, CT) followed with a triple to center field to give the Lord Jeffs a 9-6 lead.
Sophomore right fielder Kevin Heller (Brooklyn, NY) led off the ninth with a solo home run to center to extend the Amherst lead to 10-6. The Beacons looked to rally in the bottom of the frame when junior second baseman Ryan Walsh (Newton, MA) and classmate Connor Reinfurt (Manchester, NH) sandwiched singles around a strikeout to put runners on first and second with an out. Following another out, freshman designated hitter Daniel Heefner (Tracy, CA) drove a double into the left field corner to bring home a run and put two runners in scoring position with the tying run at the plate, but freshman reliever Adam Medoff (San Francisco, CA) was summoned to induce a pop up to short to earn the save.
The Lord Jeffs busted out of the gate with three runs in the first inning when Wagner led off the game with a double down the left field line and later scored, on a Heller fielder's choice, when he beat the throw from third to home for a 1-0 lead. Wheeler came through with an RBI triple to right center and was plated himself on a sacrifice fly to left from Shaffer to put Amherst ahead 3-0.
UMass Boston got a run back in the bottom of the inning on a solo homer to right center off the bat of junior shortstop Dan Noonan (Westport, MA). The Beacons pulled even at 3-3 with a pair of runs in the second, highlighted by a run-scoring single from sophomore center fielder Mark McCormack (Shelton, CT).
UMass Boston took its first lead of the morning when Heefner singled to right center and moved to third on a double to the same spot by junior left fielder Jose Roman Santos (Tenares, DR). Sophomore right fielder Ty Buccetti (Wallingford, CT) grounded out to second to bring home the go-ahead run. The Lord Jeffs matched the score in the sixth when Stewart cracked a two-out single through the left side and came around to score on the first of two Samela triples.
The Beacons reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the frame when Reinfurt and Santo each singled and Buccetti drove them both in with a two-out double down the left field line for a 6-4 margin.
Sophomore right-handed reliever Hayden Metz (Ridgefield, CT) earned the victory for Amherst, tossing two and two-thirds innings, allowing just one run on five hits, while striking out five. Senior lefty Michael Andriano (Massapequa, NY) suffered the loss for UMass Boston, allowing nine runs on 11 hits and two bases on balls to go with three strikeouts.
Samela finished the day going 4-5 with two RBI for the Lord Jeffs, while Stewart was 3-4 with a double and a run batted in. Heefner and Buccetti each finished with three hits for the Beacons, including a pair of doubles and a career-high three RBI for Buccetti.
The Lord Jeffs will be in action again on Wednesday, March 17 when they travel to Vero Beach to take on Babson College at 2:00 p.m., while UMass Boston plays Ramapo College tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. in Auburndale, FL at Lake Myrtle Park.
