Courtesy Amherst Sports Information

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Wesleyan University baseball team posted a four-run, eighth-inning rally to upend Tufts University 5-4 in this morning's NESCAC Tournament elimination game at Western New England College. The Cardinals (12-23-1) advance to face Trinity College, who fell at tournament host Amherst College 6-0 in today's winner's-bracket tilt, in a rematch of yesterday's opening-round game, which the Bantams won 3-0. The winner will go on to Sunday's conference championship with an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament at stake.

Tufts led throughout most of the game, taking a 1-0 lead in the second frame and stretching its lead to 4-0 in the sixth. In the second, Jumbo sophomore third baseman Kyle Backstrom (Worcester, MA) singled up the middle and then scored from first on a failed pick-off attempt. Tufts capitalized on a trio of walks in the sixth as Backstrom picked up two RBIs on a single through the right side and senior catcher Bob Kenny (Milford, MA) plated another run, lacing a single to right field.

Tufts sophomore starter Derek Rice (Braintree, MA) held Wesleyan scoreless through the first six innings, allowing just one hit, but the Cardinals finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh as sophomore Jeff Maier (Old Tappan, NJ) slapped a double to right center, moved to third on an infield groundout and scored on a balk by Rice. The Wesleyan comeback continued in the eighth as sophomore Adam Kopiec (Rancho Santa Fe, CA) plated classmate Rob Coughlin (Saratoga Springs, NY) with a double off the left-field wall and the Cardinals went on to load the bases with no outs in the frame. Right fielder Anthony Gray (Upper Monclair, NJ) followed with a single to right, scoring pinch runner Steve Secundo (Richboro, PA), and Maier knocked home the game-tying and winning runs with a bloop single to center.
Maier finished 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, a run scored and two RBIs to lead Wesleyan.

Senior starter Will Gordon (Durham, NC) relinquished three earned runs on four hits and three walks, while striking out seven. Sophomore Andre Sternberg (Berkeley, CA) tossed two scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win, improving to 2-4 on the season. Backstrom paced the Tufts bats, going 2-for-4 with a run scored and a pair of RBIs, while sophomore reliever Aaron Narva (Albuquerque, NM) suffered his first loss of the season, falling to 2-1 as Tufts finishes its season 23-11.