Jumbos Baseball Drops Game to Engineers

MEDFORD, MA (March 12, 2025) - The Tufts University baseball team fell in another high scoring game versus Massachusetts Institute of Technology, dropping the non conference game by a score of 10-7 at Sol Gittleman Park on Wednesday afternoon.

The Jumbos (2-4) got right to work on offense after starter Cole Donato escaped a jam in the top of the first to hold the Engineers (1-6) scoreless. Tufts leadoff hitter Ian Anderson worked a walk and a Ben Leonard triple brought him all the way around to score. Leonard made the 90 foot jog home soon after on a Max Pavlik RBI ground out. They added another run in the bottom of the second to jump out to a 3-0 lead. 

The Engineers worked a run across in the top of the third before Tufts added a fourth in the fourth, thanks to a double play that scored Nick Banner from third. The lead would be short-lived, as MIT put up six runs in the top of the fifth to take the lead into the later half of play. 

Despite trailing 7-4, the Jumbos were fighting in the batter's box. Leonard continued to swing a scoring hot bat as he singled to lead off the bottom of the fifth, before reaching third on an error. He came around to score soon after as Cooper Smith bounced a double off the wall in center. James Henshon drove in Smith on an RBI ground out to bring the Jumbos within a run. 

MIT added another pair of runs in the top of the seventh to drive their lead up to 9-6. The Jumbos answered with an RBI single by Ozzie Fleischer, but the Engineers bullpen shut down the Tufts hitters.

The Engineers added a 10th run in the eighth inning and the scoreline held at 10-7 from there. Tufts managed to total 10 strikeouts as a pitching staff despite the double-digit runs allowed. 

The Jumbos totalled 11 hits, led by catcher Nick Banner with three. Curiously, Max Pavlik logged the most RBI in the game for Tufts without registering a hit, grounding into a pair of RBIs. Leonard continued to stay hot as he totaled two hits, a walk and two RBIs. 

The Jumbos will travel out west to kick off a lengthy road trip in California, first taking on Pomona-Pitzer in a three game series before taking on Claremont-Mudd-Scripts and Chapman in midweek matchups on Tuesday and Wednesday.