Clark Uses Long Ball To Down Babson Baseball, 13-9

Recap, photo is courtesy of Babson College

WORCESTER, Mass.— Babson College first-years Eric Jaun (Loveland, Ohio) and Edward Lehr (Byram Township, N.J.) both homered and drove in three runs, but it wasn't enough as Clark University smashed four home runs on its way to defeating the Beavers, 13-9, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball action on Tuesday afternoon at Granger Diamond.

With the loss, Babson is now 16-12-1 overall and 6-7 in conference play, while Clark improves to 16-18 overall and 6-8 in the NEWMAC.

Jaun went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and Lehr finished with two hits and scored once to lead the
Beavers. Sophomore Mark Webber (Norwell, Mass.) was 2-for-3 with a double, a triple and two RBI, while senior George Crowley (Watertown, Mass.) had a pair of hits and walked twice to go along with two runs scored. Junior Jack Halpin (Glastonbury, Conn.) also had two hits, including a double, in the loss.

Senior James Conway (Newburyport, Mass.) homered twice and drove in three runs, while graduate student David Eschen (New York, N.Y.) and senior Michael Eglow (Delmar, N.Y.) both had two hits, drove in two runs and scored twice to lead the Cougars.

Conway homered to lead off the bottom of the second and Clark built a 5-0 lead in the third before tacking on seven more runs in the fourth. Downing made it 7-2 with a two-run single to right and Conway greeted Babson first-year Nicholas Parente (Lincoln University, Pa.) with a two-run blast to left to give the Cougars a 10-2 advantage. Eglow followed with a solo shot to left and following a pop up, junior Adam Chockrek (Foxboro, Mass.) hammered his third home run of the year to put the hosts in front 12-2.

The Green and White responded in the fifth as Webber plated Halpin and junior Jake Weiss (Irvine, Calif.) with a double, and Jaun followed with a two-run blast to left to cut the deficit to 12-6. Clark scored on an error in the bottom of the frame, but the Beavers came back with three more runs in the seventh to get within 13-9. Jaun drove in Webber with a single to right and then scored on Lehr's ground out before junior Owen Shea (Northborough, Mass.) came through with an RBI double to right.

That's as close as Babson would get though, as sophomore Joshua Dobratz (Southington, Conn.) gave up just a hit and a walk over the final two innings to preserve the win for the Cougars.

Classmate Conor Walsh (Marstons Mills, Mass.) earned the win for Clark despite giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits while striking out three over 2.1 innings. Beavers' senior Nick Ahearn (Norfolk, Mass.) dropped to 1-2 on the year after allowing nine runs on 10 hits over 3.1 innings.
Babson returns to action on Wednesday when it travels to Coast Guard at 3:30 p.m., while the Cougars host the Bears to begin a three-game series on Friday at 3:30 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 57-17 all-time against Clark although the teams have now split the season series in each of the last three seasons.
• Babson and Coast Guard are now tied for the final two NEWMAC playoff spots with the Cougars just a half-game back.
• The Beavers' seven extra-base hits in Tuesday's loss were one more than they had in their first four road games of the season.
• Webber's five triples this spring are the most by a Babson player since 2002 when Kevin Higa '03 set a single-season program record with six.