Courtesy Amherst Sports Information

Box Score - Game 6
Box Score - Game 7

AMHERST, Mass. – Sophomore speedster Jared Banner led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a triple to the right-center-field gap and scored the winning run when the ensuing relay throw sailed out of play, giving Amherst College (23-7-1) a dramatic 8-7 win over visiting fifth-ranked Trinity College (31-7) in the final game of the NESCAC Baseball Postseason Championship Tournament on Sunday. The victory afforded Amherst its second straight conference title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament, with regional play set to begin this Thursday in Harwich, Massachusetts. Trinity earned an at-large bid and the top seed in the New England Regional. Amherst is seeded fourth and will meet fifth seed Worcester in their first contest with the winner facing Trinity.

Amherst jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first two innings, but Trinity rallied with four runs in the seventh to knot the score at 7-7. In the tenth frame, with a 1-0 count and the outfield playing straightaway, Banner hammered a Mike Regan offering toward the wall in right-center, rounded second and lunged headlong into third base as the throw floated overhead sending the sophomore home for the game winning run. Senior co-captains Josh Santry and Dave Powers and junior Dave Levinson each had a pair of hits for Amherst, and Vladeck improved to 7-1 with the biggest pitching win of his career. Senior Billy Wise paced Trinity with a double, two singles and three runs scored. Regan took the loss to fall to 1-1.

In the opening game, which Trinity needed to win to force a decisive Game 7, the Bantams cranked out 11 runs on 15 hits, bolstered by a spectacular eight-inning pitching performance by sophomore Tim Kiely. Trinity senior Aaron Goldstein homered in the victory, while junior Zach Schonberger drilled his team-leading eighth round-tripper for Amherst.

2005 NESCAC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Day 1 - Friday, May 13
Game 1 - W1 Amherst 5, E2 Tufts 3
Game 2 - E1 Trinity 3, W2 Wesleyan 0
Day 2 - Saturday, May 14
Game 3 - W2 Wesleyan 5, E2 Tufts 4
Game 4 - W1 Amherst 6, E1 Trinity 0
Game 5 - E1 Trinity 5, W2 Wesleyan 3
Day 3 - Sunday, May 15
Game 6 - E1 Trinity 11, W1 Amherst 5
Game 7 - W1 Amherst 8, E1 Trinity 7 - 10 inn