Babson Baseball Rallies For 4-2 Win Over Coast Guard

BABSON PARK, Mass.—Sophomore Adam Ayala (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) came off the bench to go 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two stolen bases, while first-year Michael Genaro (Greenwich, Conn.) tossed three hitless innings of relief as Babson College rallied for a 4-2 victory over the Coast Guard Academy in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball action on Wednesday afternoon at Govoni Field.

With its fifth straight win, Babson is now 10-3-1 overall and 3-0 in conference play, while Coast
Guard slips to 7-11 overall and 1-2 in the NEWMAC.

First-year Eric Jaun (Loveland, Ohio) went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while classmate Brian McHale (Ramsey, N.J.) had two hits and an RBI for the Beavers. Sophomore Jake Weiss (Irvine, Calif.) reached base three times and also drove in a run in the win.

Sophomore Zach Serna (Palatine, Ill.) and senior Kyle Wood (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) combined for three of the Bears four hits and each drove in a run on the afternoon.

Coast Guard jumped on top 1-0 in the top of the first as Serna drove in senior Mark Behne (Clifton, Va.) with a one-out double off the wall in right center. The Bears threatened again in both the second and third innings before doubling their advantage in the fifth as first-year Luke Thompson (San Ramon, Calif.) led off with a walk and later scored on a one-out single to right center by Wood.
The Green and White cut its to 2-1 in the bottom of the frame as Weiss drove in Ayala with his double down the right field line. Despite having runners on second and third with nobody out, the Beavers were unable to do any further damage as Coast Guard junior Eric Vrissis (Stamford, Conn.) got back-to-back popups followed by a strikeout to escape the jam.

Babson took the lead for good with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. Sophomore Mark Webber (Norwell, Mass.) singled and got to third on a wild pitch and a fly out before coming home to tie the game on an infield error. Ayala kept the inning going with a two-out double to center, moved to third with a stolen base and then put the Beavers ahead 3-2 on McHale's RBI single through the left side.

Jaun tacked on an insurance run in the seventh when junior Jack Halpin (Glastonbury, Conn.) got caught in a run down between first and second, and the Babson bullpen secured the victory with four shutout innings. Genaro struck out four and retired all nine batters he faced before handing the ball to Cuneo, who worked around a walk and a single to start the ninth with a pair of strikeouts to earn his fourth save of the year.

Junior Ken Rotunno (East Islip, N.Y.) earned a no decision after going five innings and allowing one earned run on three hits for the Beavers. Vrissis gave up three runs on seven hits over six innings to fall to 0-2 on the year for the Bears.

Babson returns to action on Thursday when it hosts Roger Williams at 3:30 p.m., while Coast Guard takes on Albertus Magnus on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 53-22 all-time against Coast Guard with the teams having split the last four meetings.
• Babson, which is unbeaten over its last nine games dating back to March 16, is off to its best 14-game start since the 2011 squad opened 12-2.
• The Beavers bullpen, which has allowed just one earned run over the last 26.0 innings, has given up no runs on just three hits over their last 12 innings.
• Halpin, who entered the week as one of just 13 players in Division III without a strikeout in at least 2.5 at-bats per game, fanned for the first time since April 13, 2015, in the fifth inning – a stretch of 25 games.