NORTON, Mass. — The top-seeded No. 8/11 Wheaton College (Mass.) baseball team was defeated by third-seeded Babson College, 9-3, this afternoon in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Tournament at Sidell Stadium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass. 

The Lyons, who are ranked eighth in the most recent D3baseball.com national poll and 11th in the Collegiate Baseball/American Baseball Coaches Association survey, fall to 34-6, while the Beavers improve to 25-16. The win for Babson snaps a nine-game losing streak against Wheaton. The last win for the Beavers, a 4-1 victory on May 15, 2021, was also the last loss in NEWMAC Tournament play for the Lyons - a span of six tournament contests without a defeat.

Wheaton will play number four seed Massachusetts Institute of Technology in an elimination game at 3:45 p.m., while Babson takes on the winner of that game tomorrow at 11:00 a.m.

Babson wasted no time in scoring three times in the top of the first and added three more runs in the fourth to build a 6-0 advantage. Wheaton got a run back in the fourth and tallied a lone run in the fifth to cut the margin to 6-2. The Beavers effectively put the game out of reach with three runs in the ninth to take a 9-2 lead, before the Lyons scored a run in the bottom of the inning.

Senior shortstop Cavan Brady (Sheffield, Mass.) reached base four times with a solo homer, a single and two walks to lead Wheaton, while senior second baseman Mike Maher (Jefferson, Mass.) collected four hits for the second time in his career, going 4-5 with a run batted in. Junior center fielder AJ Guindon (Coventry, R.I.) doubled and scored two runs to give him 58 runs scored on the season to tie the school record set in 2002 by Chris Denorfia. Senior right-hander Zach Clesas (Johnston, R.I.) was saddled with the loss to drop to 6-2 after yielding six runs (four earned) on six hits and no walks to go with a strikeout in four and a third innings pitched.

Savage paced the Babson offense, going 2-5 with a three-run home run and two runs scored, while graduate student shortstop Jack Pirkl (Brightwaters, N.Y.) was 2-4 with a triple, a walk, two RBI and a pair of runs scored. Senior center fielder Patrick Manning (Weymouth, Mass.) knocked in two runs, scored a run and singled. Junior right-handed starter Tristen Spalter (Sergeantsville, N.J.) finished an out shy of a complete-game victory and scattered 10 hits, while giving up three runs in addition to fanning nine batters and issuing a pair of walks to pick up the win and improve to 3-2 on the season.

Babson took advantage of a pair of infield errors to open the first inning and put three runs on the board before Wheaton's first turn at bat. Junior second baseman Tanner Santos (Bethany, Conn.) and first year first baseman Chris Basile (Miami Beach, Fla.) each reached on infield errors to lead off the frame, before Savage launched his team-leading 11th home run of the season well over the left field fence to give the Beavers a 3-0 lead.

Babson added three more runs in the fourth behind another big extra base hit to increase its lead to 6-0. Junior catcher Ike Kiely (Falmouth, Maine) led off the inning with a single skipped through the left side of the infield, before first year right fielder Ryan Hvozdovic (Hillsborough, N.J.) was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base with no outs. Pirkl belted a fly ball to the base of the right-center field fence and ended up on third base with a two-run triple to give the Beavers a 5-0 margin. Santos followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Pirkl with the sixth Babson run. 

Wheaton broke into the scoring column when Brady blasted his sixth homer of the season over the left field fence in the bottom of the fourth to cut the deficit to 6-1.

The Lyons tacked on another run in the fifth to pull to within 6-2. Guindon was hit by a pitch before Maher singled through the right side to put runners on the corners with one out. Senior third baseman Nick Croteau (Cumberland, R.I.) lined a fly ball to center field for a sacrifice fly to bring home Guindon with the second Wheaton run.

The Beavers scored three more runs in the ninth to create some healthy breathing room with a seven-run lead. Savage and Cook registered back-to-back one-out singles before graduate student Ryan Noone (Belmont, Mass.) was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game to load the bases. Kiely reached on an error and Savage scored the seventh Babson run. Manning capped the scoring for the Beavers with a two-run single to left field to give Babson a 9-2 cushion.

The Lyons scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the inning when Guindon ripped a pitch into right field and pulled into second base with a hustle double, before Maher singled to right to plate Guindon.