Following two ninth inning wins in the past week, it may be appropriate to begin referring to this year’s baseball squad as the “comeback kids.” Tied 6-6 in the ninth inning against 19th-ranked Keene State College, senior Evan Bruno knocked in the winning run with two outs in the top of the ninth inning. That upset was followed this past weekend by a two-game sweep over Williams College that included a game in which the Jeffs scored four runs in the final frame, to complete a 6-5 comeback.

“Our coaches and captains have been preaching an old style of baseball here, really drilling a ‘get tough’ mentality to our hitters. Our guys want the bat in their hands when the game is on the line,” said Bruno.

The key has been the team’s ability to rely on strong relief pitching when the team finds itself in an early hole. Pitchers Teddy Blank ’10, Jeff Keenan ’11 and Chris Edgar ’08 have each kept the Jeffs in games long enough for them to come back and grab the close victories.

Thus far this season, the ninth inning has generally been kind to the Jeffs’ office. If Amherst is within striking distance heading into the final inning, the Jeffs know that as long as they stay disciplined, they have a shot to pull out the game.

“You have just as good of a chance to score in the ninth as you do any other time, so we stay confident and try not to change our approach,” said junior right fielder Angus Schaller.

Despite the Jeffs’ success coming back, they would never turn down a big lead at any point in a game. But, as Schaller describes, there is something exciting about the pressure of a tight situation. “I get excited at the prospect of late inning heroics. There’s certainly a bright side to being behind at the end of a game. No one’s ever hit a walk off bomb when they’re already ahead.”

This weekend was no different. Sunday’s twin victories over the Ephs, then, were doubly special, as they coupled the thrill of a comeback with the pride that comes with beating Amherst’s greatest rival.

Near the end of the ninth inning of the final game, the Jeffs had all the bases loaded and had Bruno step up to the plate to bat. He scored two runs and built up a rallying dynamic for the entire team. Jose Espinosa ’11 added a third run, and senior co-captain Joseph Card scored the fourth and final run. First-year Jeff Keenan also helped close the game for Amherst by pitching shutouts for four straight innings.

“In the last inning of the Williams game, the team was fired up and knew we had a chance to get to their pitching if we bore down and swung hard. When you take things one at bat at a time and are ready to swing the bat, good things happen,” said Bruno.

Thanks to the successful weekend, the Jeffs hold a 1.5 game lead in the NESCAC West division standings. Amherst also clinched the season series against Williams, with the final game of the series to be played on May 4 in Waconah Park in Pittsfield, Mass. Now, the challenge for the Jeffs becomes keeping their foot on the gas pedal.

Bruno doesn’t expect the Jeffs to rest on their laurels for too long, even after such satisfying wins over the Ephs. Instead, he predicts the team will use the Williams sweep to push ahead. “Momentum is a huge factor that affects everything. The best thing we can do is channel this and keep up our intensity in practice.”

Co-captain Neal Allar ’08 agreed. “We need to keep practicing hard,” he said. “We also need to respect the game, realize that baseball has its own quirky karma. If you make all kinds of errors and win a game anyway, you might have an errorless game the next day and lose. If you get a bunch of cheap hits one day, you may hit the ball well the next day and still go 0 for 4. You’ve just got to do your best to keep good karma.”

While Schaller anticipates the team’s continued success as well, his reasons are much simpler: “It’s way more fun to win than to lose.”