Baseball Storms Back Late to Take Down Tufts, 12-10

MEDFORD, Mass. – Down eight to start the seventh, Suffolk baseball put its rally caps on and scored 10 unanswered over the next three innings to triumph over regionally ranked Tufts, 12-10, Wednesday afternoon at Huskins Field.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 12 | Tufts 10
RECORDS: Suffolk (19-15) | Tufts (20-10)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk sat in an eight-run deficit after the Jumbos hot hands early on. The teams traded runs in the first before the host put up seven in the second and one in the third to hold a 9-1 lead.  

The Rams tacked a tally on the board in the top of the fifth and the Jumbos responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the sixth to set up the 10-2 distance and thrilling comeback by the blue-and-gold. 

A two-out one-run single by Marc Birbiglia in the seventh jumped started the Rams late offense, but it was the eighth-inning rally that pulled Suffolk back into the mix. The ball did not leave the infield through the first five batters, however, the blue-and-gold still managed to put up a run behind a base hit, a couple erratic pitches and a walk. With two outs and a runner on third, Christian Seariac slapped a double to left center before Joe Ward and Harry Painterbarreled back-to-back bombs. Thanks to those extra-base knocks, Suffolk found itself down by just a pair, 10-8. 

Steven Rossi took over the hill in the home half of the eighth. The senior right-handed hurler limited the Jumbos to just a sole base runner on a hit-by-pitch to keep the score still.  

Blase Cormier worked a base on balls to lead off the ninth. The next two batters went down in order and the Rams' retaliation looked to be just about done. Garret Roberts and Seariac kept the inning alive with a single and walk, respectively, and put all the ducks in the pond, including the go-ahead run on first.  

Tufts changed things up on the hill as Silas Reed came in to take over for Gavin Brown in the hopes the reliever would put the game away. Ward had other things in mind as the center fielder clipped a two-run single to right off the new wing to tie the game at 10-all. 

Just like the previous inning, Painter played a factor into the scoring as the freshman designated hitter cleared the bags with a double to right center to send Suffolk in front, 12-10. 

Now with the advantage in Suffolk's favor, Rossi returned to the rubber to lock up the win and did just that as he retired the side.  

PITCHERS PICTURE

• Rossi registered the win behind 2.0 innings of shutdown, hitless relief with one K to his credit. 
• Billy Beneke (0 H, 0 R), Shreyas Parikh (1 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K), and Pierce Salbego (0 H, 0 R, 1 K) all tossed 1.0 inning out of the pen. 
• Nick Reiser saw 2.0 innings in relief. He let up one run on two hits with two punchouts. 
• Michael Muscarella (8 R, 9 H, 2 BB, 1 K) started on the mound for Suffolk. 
• Liam Wilson compiled a two-run, four-hit, one-walk, two-strikeout, 5.0-inning day in the start. 
• Brown suffered the setback after giving up three runs on two hits and two walks in 1.0 inning of action. 
• The Jumbos also called Justin Wells (2.0 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 3 BB, 4 K), Steven Landry (0.2 IP, 5 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 K) and Reed (0.1 IP, 1 R, 2 H) to pitch.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Ward went 3-for-5 and was one triple shy of the cycle. He brought in four runs and scored two himself. 
• Seariac also went 3-for-5 including two doubles. He recorded three runs scored and a pair of RBI.
• Painter provided four RBI on two hits, and homer. He scored twice. 
• Roberts added two hits, two runs and one RBI. 
• Birbiglia notched two hits and one RBI. 
• Cormier chipped in two runs and one hit. 
• Steven Shamnoski scored two runs and stole one base.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Nine of the Rams 10 final runs came with two outs in their respective innings. 
• Suffolk moved to 12-16 all-time against Tufts. 
• The Rams defeated the Jumbos for the first time since a 16-5 decision April 24, 2018. 
• The blue-and-gold improved to 2-1 versus Tufts in Anthony Del Prete's guidance. 
• Suffolk knocked multiple homers in a single game for the 10th time this season. 
• Ward matched a career-high in RBI (4) and hits (3). 
• Painter tied a season-best four RBI. 
• Ward hit his sixth homer of the year, while Painter put a ball out of the park for the 10 time this season. 
• Birbiglia matched a career-best three hits.  

POST-GAME PIC
  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk has a full weekend ahead with twinbill trips to Nichols and Brandeis scheduled. The Rams head to the Bison Saturday, April 30 for an 11:30 a.m. game one first pitch. The blue-and-gold will wrap up the weekend against the Judges Sunday, May 1 with action slate to start at 12 p.m.