Babson Baseball Edged By Wheaton, 4-3

BABSON PARK, Mass. — Senior Jimmy Smith (Worcester, Mass.) raced home on a squeeze bunt by classmate Matt Lavanchy (Walpole, Mass.) with one out in the top of the ninth as visiting Wheaton College edged Babson College, 4-3, in the opening game of a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball series on Friday afternoon at Govoni Field.

Babson, which lost for just the second time in its last 12 games, slips to 11-5-1 overall and 3-1 in conference play, while Wheaton is now 13-6 overall and 4-2 in the NEWMAC.

Juniors Jack Halpin (Glastonbury, Conn.) and Owen Shea (Northborough, Mass.) both went 2-for-4
with an RBI double, while sophomore Mark Webber (Norwell, Mass.) homered for the Beavers.
Senior Justin Silvestro (Waltham, Mass.) was 3-for-5 with an RBI, while Smith finished 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored to lead the Lyons. Junior Joey Santigate (Staten Island, N.Y.) and first-year Tyler Walsh (Cumberland, R.I.) also finished with two hits apiece in the win.

Wheaton jumped on top 2-0 with a pair of runs in the top of the third, but Webber cut the Babson deficit in half with his third home run of the season, a one-out blast to right center, in the bottom half of the frame. The Green and White tied the game in the fourth as Halpin reached on a one-out knock through the right side and then scored all the way from first on Shea's double to the left field corner.

The Lyons went back in front 3-2 in the fifth as Silvestro followed a pair of infield hits with an RBI single through the right side to plate Smith. The Beavers left runners on base in both the sixth and seventh innings before tying the game in the eighth. Sophomore Adam Ayala (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) came through with a two-out single through the right side and stole second before coming around to score on Halpin's double to the opposite field. Shea reached on an infield single one batter later to put runners on the corners, but Wheaton senior Michael Baryski (Walpole, Mass.) got a pop-up in foul ground to end the threat.

Smith led off the top of the ninth with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt before eluding Babson senior George Crowley's (Watertown, Mass.) tag on the squeeze play to give the Lyons a 4-3 advantage. Senior Eric Dumas (Brookline, Mass.) then worked around a one-out single to record the final three outs for his eighth save of the year.

Junior Michael Bruemmel (Bridgewater, Mass.) earned a no-decision after giving up just two runs on five hits over seven innings for Wheaton. Baryski collected his second win of the year despite allowing two hits in 0.1 innings.

Senior Nick Ahearn (Norfolk, Mass.) went seven innings and allowed three runs on 11 hits while striking out three in a no-decision for Babson. First-year Daniel Cooney (Verona, N.J.) gave up one run over two innings to fall to 3-1 on the year.

 The teams will wrap up their three-game series with a doubleheader staring at 12 p.m. on Saturday (today) in Norton.

GAME NOTES
• Halpin now owns a nine-game hitting streak against Wheaton and is 13-for-30 (.433) with five extra-base hits in his career against the Lyons.
• Shea extended his hitting streak against Wheaton to seven games with his fourth-inning double.
• Friday's loss was the first for the Beavers this season when allowing less than five runs.