LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee baseball team dropped an extra-inning thriller, 5-4, against Tufts on Thursday evening at home.
 
With the game tied in the top of the 10th and one out, the Jumbos (9-0) put three consecutive runners on base on two singles and a hit by pitch. Junior catcher Clay Sowell then drew a walk on a full-count offering to give Tufts the 5-4 lead. With the bases still loaded, first-year pitcher Evan Blair (Vienna, Va. / James Madison) (1-3) proceeded to strike out the next two batters to end the inning.
 
In the bottom of the 10th, junior Luke Erdmann (Vienna, Va. / James Madison) entered as a pinch hitter and was hit by a pitch, before junior left fielder John Raymond (Frenchtown, N.J. / Delaware Valley Regional) walked on four pitches. First-year third baseman Mike Carpenter (Aurora, Ohio / Aurora) followed and bunted the runners to second and third with one out, before a strikeout gave the Jumbos their second out of the inning. Sophomore second baseman Zach Senders (Potomac, Md. / Bullis School) then walked on four pitches to load the bases, but Tufts' senior Matt Benda got a full-count strikeout to end the game.
 
The Generals (9-10) trailed by one run heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, but Senders began the rally with a leadoff single to center. After Senders stole second, sophomore designated hitter Jacob Jackson (Norfolk, Va. / Maury) moved Senders to third on a bunt. Sophomore first baseman Drew Larsen (Glen Allen, Va. / Deep Run) followed with a sac fly to deep center field to score Senders.
 
Tufts' senior shortstop Nate Bozzella led off the game with a solo home run on the third pitch he saw, before the team added a run on an error later in the frame. W&L got one run back in the bottom of the third on a single to right off the bat of sophomore shortstop Ethan Zulueta (Matthews, N.C. / Weddington), before the Jumbos regained a two-run lead on a sac fly from sophomore third baseman Patrick Solomon.
 
W&L pulled back to within one run on a single by sophomore catcher Jaden Keuhner (Aldie, Va. / John Champe) in the fifth, while both teams scored once in the seventh. Tufts' seventh-inning run came on a solo home run from Sowell, while Jackson scored on a wild pitch for the Generals.
 
Senders, Jackson, Larsen and Keuhner each had multiple hits from the top four spots in the batting order. Jackson had a team-high three knocks, while Larsen and Keuhner finished with two hits and an RBI each. Raymond ended the game 1-for-2, and he walked three times.
 
Blair was the pitcher of record for the Generals after he allowed one run on two hits over the final two innings. First-year Jimmy Horvath (Harrison, N.Y. / Harrison) started and allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits over the first 6.2 frames, while junior Derek Hughes (Raleigh, N.C. / Ravenscroft School) pitched 1.1 scoreless innings.
 
Junior right fielder Jimmy Evans had three hits to lead the Jumbos' offense. Sowell finished 2-for-3 with two RBI. Sophomore Liam Wilson (1-0) was the winning pitcher after he surrendered the Generals' tying run in the bottom of the ninth and was pulled in the 10th with no outs and the lead. Benda entered and nailed down his first save of the season, and he struck out two.
 
The Generals will return to ODAC play in their next time out, as they travel to Roanoke on Saturday for a doubleheader starting at 12:00 pm.