Amherst wins fourth-straight, slip past Gulls
March 18, 2009
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - Amherst College erased a three-run deficit with a four-run seventh, lifting the Lord Jeffs to a 5-4 win over Endicott College on Wednesday afternoon in Winter Haven, Fla. Amherst scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to swipe the one run victory. The Jeffs are now 4-1 on the spring trip while the Gulls fall to 2-4.
The Jeffs jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning when they drew a walk with the bases loaded, but they would leave the bags juiced without scoring again. The Gulls bounced back with two runs in the fourth inning off starting pitcher Jim Cetkovski (Toronto, Ontario) as Roberto Zapata (Boston, Mass.) and Christopher Dominguez (Braintree, Mass.) scored on an error. The Blue and Green added another two runs in seventh as Michael Russo (Natick, Mass.) and Aaron Santos (Cambridge, Mass.) started the inning with consecutive hits, with Santos and Andrew Betts (Bristol, Conn.) eventually scoring.
Senior co-captain Angus Schaller (Leucadia, Calif.) played the role of hero for Amherst when he belted a three-run triple in the bottom of the seventh inning. After sophomore Scott Shaffer (Boulder, Colo.) doubled with one out, first-year Kevin Heller (Brooklyn, NY) reached on an error. Sophomore Max Einhorn (Scarsdale, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch to load the bases, setting up Schaller's game-tying hit. Senior Nat Pedley (Rye, N.Y.) followed with a sacrifice squeeze bunt that brought home Schaller for the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run.
Harris recorded the first out of the eighth inning before being replaced by junior Teddy Blank (Waban, Mass.), who closed out the game to pick up the save. Endicott had runners at second and third with one out in the ninth, but Blank picked up a strikeout and retired the last batter with pop fly to right field. Harris was credited with the win.
Endicott (2-4) returns to action on Thursday when the Gulls square off in a double-dip with Franklin & Marshall beginning at 9:00 a.m.