Amherst, Mass. – Senior Robert Dolliver (Norwich, Conn.) went 3-for-5 with three run and three RBI, including a two-run single to key a seven-run, seventh inning, leading the Trinity College Bantams to a 14-4 win against the Williams College Ephs in an elimination game of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Baseball Championship Tournament at Amherst College this afternoon. Trinity, ranked No. 2 in New England and No. 22 in the nation, had dropped out of the winner’s bracket with a 3-2 loss to Amherst earlier in the day.
Trinity, which moves to 21-9, advances to the final day of the double-elimination tournament and will have to beat Amherst twice tomorrow to win the league title. The NESCAC Champion earns the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament next weekend in Cape Cod. Williams had beaten Tufts, 6-0, in its first elimination game of the day at American International.
Trinity overcame five errors with 12 hits and totaled for 13 of its 14 runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Trailing, 4-1, after a two-run homer by Williams junior Jabe Bergeron (Chesterfield, N.H.) and a costly wild pitch resulted in a three-run, sixth inning for the Ephs, Trinity erupted for seven runs in the top half of the eighth frame. A lead-off walk by sophomore Aaron Goldstein (Edina, Minn.) and consecutive singles by sophomores Billy Wise (Longmeadow, Mass.), Rob O’Leary (Easton, Mass.), and Matt Engster (Glastonbury, Conn.) cut the Williams lead to 4-3, and Trinity tacked on four more on an Eph error, a walk, the game-winning hit by Dolliver, and a wild pitch.
Trinity added six more runs in the eighth inning, highlighted by a three-run homer off the bat of sophomore Andrew Fries (Dublin, Ohio). Fries finished the day with four hits in eight at-bats with seven RBI and a homer in each game. Bantam sophomore Mark Tremblay (Hooksett, N.H.) got the win in relief of classmate Chris Rodday (Concord, N.H.), pitching five outs of scoreless ball.
Against Amherst, Lord Jeff senior co-captain John Schneider (Grand Rapids, Mich.) drilled a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, offsetting a two-run blast by Fries in the seventh frame that gave the Bantams a 2-1 cushion. Amherst had knotted the score at 2-2 with two-out RBI double by freshman Dave Levinson (Philadelphia, Pa.).
Amherst junior right-hander Duncan Webb (Lynn, Mass.) improved to 5-3, allowing just four hits and two unearned runs in the complete game effort, while Trinity senior righty Craig Tredenick (Cornwall, Prince Edward Island) dropped to 1-2 with the loss. Trinity sophomore starter Joe Westcott (Holyoke, Mass.) pitched 6.1 strong innings before giving way to freshman reliever Kyle Cox (Hinsdale, Ill.) in the seventh.
Game 1
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Trinity, Conn. (20-9) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Amherst (21-10) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
BATTERY
TC- Joe Westcott, Kyle Cox (7), Craig Tredenick (8) and Andrew Fries.
A- Duncan Webb and Tom Sullivan.
WP: Webb (5-3)
LP: Tredenick (1-2)
HR: TC- Andrew Fries, A- John Schneider
Offensive Highlights
TC- Andrew Fries – two hits, two RBI, home run
A- John Schneider – two hits, home run.
Game 2
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Trinity, Conn. (21-9) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 12 | 5 |
| Williams (27-10) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 3 |
BATTERY
TC- Chris Rodday, Mark Tremblay (6), Carlos Resto (8), Gabe Rotman (9)
and Andrew Fries, Tony O’Shaughnessy (8).
W- Ben Hamm, Matt Brown (7), Ryan Paylor (8), Justin Anderson (9) and
Matt Casey.
WP: Tremblay (3-3)
LP: Hamm (5-4)
HR: TC- Andrew Fries, A- Jabe Bergeron
Offensive
Highlights
TC- Rob
Dolliver – three hits, three runs, three RBI, Andrew Fries – two hits, five RBI,
home run, Jeff Natale – two hits, two runs, Matt Engster – two hits, two runs.
W- Jabe Bergeron – three hits, two runs, three RBI, home run, Mark Chmiel
– two hits.