Box Score
MEDFORD – Tufts University junior pitcher Kyle Slinger (Danville, CA) threw seven shutout innings as the Jumbos blanked the Bates College Bobcats, 2-0, in NESCAC East baseball action on Saturday afternoon at Huskins Field.
This game was originally scheduled for Bates College, so the Bobcats served as the home team.
Slinger (4-0) allowed three hits in his seven innings of work. He struck out 11 and walked four in the victory.
Tufts scored the only runs it would need in the top of the first. Junior LF Nick Barker (Weymouth, MA) reached with a one-out single and then moved to second base on a balk by Bates senior pitcher Brad Reynolds (Lafayette, CO). Junior 3B Wade Hauser (Palo Alto, CA) followed up with a double, collecting in his team-high 12th RBI of the year. Senior DH Max Freccia (Stamford, CT) added a double of his own to score Hauser.
Slinger retired the first 12 Bobcat batters he faced, striking out seven over the first four innings. Junior 1B Sam Berry (South Hamilton, MA) was the first Bates player to reach base, leading off the fifth inning with a two-bagger. The next batter, junior RF Nate Pajka (Douglas, MA), worked a walk. Slinger would shut down the threat by forcing a fielder's choice and a 6-4-3 double play.
Bates' biggest threat came in the bottom of the sixth. Slinger retired the first two batters, but senior DH Griff Tewksbury (Concord, NH) kept the inning going with a single. Back-to-back walks to sophomore 2B Berto Diaz (Carson, CA) and senior 3B Kevin Davis (North Andover, MA) loaded the bases for Berry. Slinger would slam the door shut by tallying his ninth strikeout.
Slinger stranded two more runners in the seventh inning before giving way to the Jumbo bullpen. Meanwhile, after allowing two runs on three hits in the first inning, Reynolds pitched five straight hitless frames for the Bobcats. He finished the day after six full innings, giving up two runs and three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Tufts freshman reliever Tim Superko (Wellesley, MA) earned a two-inning save, his first of the season, with a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth and by stranding a pair of runners in the ninth inning. Superko struck out two in his outing.
The Bates bullpen combination of sophomore Rob DiFranco (Melrose, MA) and senior Dean Bonneau (Amherst, MA) pitched three hitless innings. DiFranco checked in with five punch-outs in his two innings.
The Bobcats ended up out-hitting the Jumbos, 4-3, in a game that was dominated by the pitching staffs.
Tufts is now 12-1 on the season and 1-0 to begin NESCAC East play. Bates falls to 5-8 (0-1).
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