The Story
Tribe Baseball plays 4 at home
Tribe Baseball opened their season at home, hosting the Iona Gaels and the Buffalo Bulls in the DeMarini First Pitch Classic. Opening against Buffalo on Friday, the Tribe started their season in grand fashion with a thrilling 10-9 victory.
Starting pitcher Jeremy Neustifter began the game strong; he didn't surrender a hit in the first three innings while his offense gave him a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Neustifter ran into trouble in the top of the fourth, starting with a leadoff walk. After coming back to get a strikeout, he gave up a double followed by a single, which drove in two while the runner advanced to second. Appearing to have lost his composure, Neustifter threw a wild pitch but managed to get back to back outs and get out of the inning without further damage. He would be pulled an inning later after giving up another leadoff walk and a single, which would eventually turn into an earned run and a 3-2 Bulls lead.
After several innings of lead changes, the Tribe entered the bottom half of the eighth inning with the game tied at 9. After a one out single by DH Brett Conner, the Tribe looked to break the game open but Conner was caught stealing second. Senior captain Tyler Stampone came up and hit a fly ball out to left field that was dropped and the Tribe had new life. Freshman Todd Bower came up and got what would be the game-winning single into left field after the Bulls catcher was unable to hold onto the ball while going for the tag on Stampone. Freshman Matt Davenport, who had come on in the eighth to get the final out, preserved his first collegiate win, although the Bulls threatened, getting a runner to third with two outs before a groundout to end the game.
The Tribe opened the first game of a Saturday doubleheader against the Gaels. Freshman starting pitcher Cole Shain struggled early, giving up a 3-0 lead to the Gaels over the first two innings. He settled down over the next four innings, only giving up one more run. In the meantime, the offense once again overcame an early deficit and put up eight total runs in the third and fourth inning and the team never looked back. Conner would add the Tribe’s first home run of the season in the bottom of the sixth and the Tribe would go on to win 16-6.
For the second game of the doubleheader, the Tribe went up against the Bulls for the second time in two days. Unfortunately, the Tribe did not favor as well in the rematch. Despite a decent start from freshman Jay McCarthy, the Tribe, for the first time this season, struggled on offense. Getting nine runners on base, they left six on base and only scored two runs, wasting four innings of scoreless relief from bullpen in the 4-2 loss.
In the final game of the weekend, the Tribe went up against Iona for the second time in as many days on Sunday. Similar to the Friday game, the Tribe jumped out to an early lead before giving it up in the middle innings. Yet, once again, the offense picked up their pace, scoring six runs in the sixth inning to take a 9-4 lead. The offense would go on to get 9 more runs in the seventh and eighth innings and would not concede anymore runs to the Gaels, who lost all four games this weekend. The final score was 18-4.
The Tribe was very impressive this weekend, getting strong offensive production, apart from Saturday’s game against Buffalo. Over the four games, they scored 46 runs and poured on 53 hits. They also got strong performances from their young pitching staff (3 of the 4 starting pitchers this weekend were freshmen) and the bullpen was strong for the most part as well. All in all, the Tribe had a solid weekend and will look to build on their success this week as they go to Virginia tomorrow and then play four games over the weekend in Winston-Salem, NC.
Top Performers of the Week:
Rob Nickle, RF (Senior):
8-17, .471 AVG, 2 2B, 2 3B, 9 RBI, 4 R
Senior outfielder Rob Nickle was named to the Preseason All-Conference First Team and from his performance over the weekend, he deserved it. He came up with several big hits and is helping to carry the offensive load this season.
Stephen Arcure, CF (Freshman):
6-14, .429 AVG, 1 3B, 8 RBI, 7 R, 2 SB
One of several freshmen to play well in the beginning of their collegiate careers. He did a good job of getting on base, drawing six walks in addition to his six hits. After Friday’s game, he was moved from the 2 hole into the leadoff position due to his knack for getting on base.
Matt Davenport, RP (Freshman):
2 App., 1 W, 2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 0.00 ERA
Another freshman who performed well in his first week. In his first outing, he came on to get an out in the eighth and showed composure in holding on for his first collegiate win in the ninth. Went on to pitch a flawless 2/3 of an inning a day later.