May 4, 2004 

AMHERST, MA - The Amherst College baseball team pounded out 11 hits but left nine runners on base in a 6-4 loss to visiting non-league foe Springfield College on Tuesday. The Jeffs close the regular season at 16-16 and open NESCAC Tournament play this Friday at 3 p.m. at defending conference champion Trinity College. 

Springfield (15-11) drew first blood with a trio of unearned runs in the second inning off Amherst starter Joe Vladeck (Washington, DC), who fell to 0-5 with the loss. Rookie Matt Sullivan (Springfield, MA) keyed the rally with a two-run bloop single after an Amherst error extended the inning. 

Amherst retaliated with a run in the third when senior Tom Sullivan (Tewksbury, MA) lashed a leadoff double and trotted home on a two-out single by sophomore Dave Levinson (Philadelphia, PA), but Springfield tacked on a run in each of the final three frames, highlighted by sophomore James Miner's (Methuen, MA) team-leading ninth home run of the season in the top of the eighth inning. 

Trailing 6-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Amherst awoke from its slumber with a three-run blast by junior pinch hitter Kyle Lavery (Westbury, NY), who deposited a first-pitch fastball into the cheap seats for his first career round tripper. Levinson singled with two outs in the inning, bringing the tying run to the plate, but Springfield reliever Robert Smaldone (Wappingers Falls, NY) worked out of the jam with a game-ending ground out. 

Sophomore Adam Tarquini (Fishkill, NY) paced Springfield with three singles, an RBI and a run scored, while classmate Derek Yvon (East Longmeadow, MA) and junior Scott Houghton (East Longmeadow, MA) added two hits apiece. Senior hurler Todd Royce drew the start and surrendered just one earned run in five strong innings, upping his record to 4-1. 

Levinson went 3-for-5 with an RBI for Amherst. 

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