Courtesy Trinity Sports Information

HARWICH, Mass. – Sophomore RHP Tim Kiely (Swampscott, Mass.) pitched a complete game with eight strikeouts and no walks to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 2-1 win over the Amherst College Lord Jeffs in the second round of the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship Tournament at Whitehouse Field this afternoon. Trinity, ranked No. 1 in New England and No. 5 in the nation, improves to a best-ever 33-7 and will play Wheaton (Mass.) tomorrow at 10 a.m. Amherst closes the season at 23-9-1 and is eliminated from the tournament with its second loss in two days and its second defeat against Trinity in five games between the two teams this spring.

Trinity went ahead, 2-0, with runs in the second and fifth innings, and Kiely held the Lord Jeffs scoreless until the bottom of the eighth frame. Bantam freshman DH Matt Stafford (Plymouth, Mass.) doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by senior OF Robert O’Leary (Easton, Mass.) in the second inning, and O’Leary walked, advanced on a sacrifice bunt, reached third on a wild pitch, and scored on an error by Amherst senior 3B Josh Santry (Allendale, N.J.).

Amherst threatened in the sixth and seventh innings, before finally getting on the board with a run on a single to right field by sophomore DH Jared Banner (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and a two-out, RBI double by junior 1B David Levinson (Philadelphia, Pa.). Kiely stranded Levinson at second with a strikeout of Amherst PH Evan Bruno (Williamsburg, Va.).

After Trinity failed to add an insurance run despite a double by senior co-captain C Andrew Fries (Dublin, Ohio) in the top of the ninth, Banner put the tying run on first base with a one-out single off Kiely. Kiely struck out the next batter and got the final out on a pop-up to third base to earn the win, tallying his sixth win in as many decisions with nine hits allowed. Bantam senior co-captain 3B Jeff Natale (Hamden, Conn.) and Banner were both 3-for-4, while Amherst junior RHP Joe Vladeck (Washington, D.C.) took the hard-luck, complete game loss despite giving up just five hits and an earned run with five K’s.