NORTON, Mass. – Both teams scored all of their runs in the seventh inning with the Babson College baseball team scoring twice and host Wheaton College (Mass.) scoring once in a 2-1 win for the Beavers this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Sidell Stadium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons slip to 17-12 and finish the conference slate at 10-6, while the Beavers have won six of their last seven and improve to 22-10 and 10-4.
First year third baseman Casey Wensley (Raynham, Mass.) led the Lyons at the plate, going 2-4 with a run batted in, while senior shortstop Mike Maher (Jefferson, Mass.) reached base twice with a single and a walk. Junior starting pitcher Josh Fischer (Hopkinton, Mass.) was saddled with the loss to drop to 0-4 after giving up just one run on five hits and two walks in addition to fanning five batters in six-plus innings of work.
Senior shortstop Jack Julian (Manchester, Mass.) was 1-4 with two runs batted in to provide the difference for Babson, while Finkelstein allowed just three hits to go with four walks and four strikeouts in a 113-pitch effort to improve to 6-1 on the year. Sophomore reliever Zander Teator (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) earned the save with a hit-less ninth inning for the visitors. Graduate student center fielder Luke Tanner (Los Angeles, Calif.) was 2-5 with a double, while junior first baseman Justin Guest (West Windsor, N.J.) and junior left fielder Walter Sadowsky (Morristown, N.J.) were both 2-4 with a run scored.
Babson loaded the bases with one out in the top of the seventh, before Julian came through with all the runs the Beavers would need. Guest served a single to left field, before Sadowsky pushed a bunt single between the pitcher and first base to put the first two runners on base for Babson. Following a sacrifice bunt, sophomore right fielder Ryan Hvozdovic (Hillsborough, N.J.) was intentionally walked. Julian delivered with a sharp single to left field to plate both Guest and Sadowksy to give the Beavers a 2-0 lead.
Wheaton got a run back in the bottom of the frame to make it a one-run affair. First year catcher Tyler Bellan (Franklin, Mass.) was hit by a pitch and junior second baseman Tommy Beauregard (Salem, Mass.) ripped a single to right field to put runners on the corners. Wensley later came through with a two-out single to left to knock in Bellan with the Lyons' lone run.
The Babson bullpen retired the final seven batters it faced to close out the victory.
The Beavers threatened to score in the first inning when Tanner opened the contest with a ground-rule double and later advanced to third on a ground out. Graduate student designated hitter John Nowak (Pelham, N.Y.) flied out to short right field, where Wheaton senior right fielder Tommy Ambrosone (Hopkinton, Mass.) made the catch and threw a strike to the plate to cut down Tanner to prevent the run and end the inning.
The Lyons also had a chance to score earlier in the game when they loaded the bases with two outs in the third. Wensley and Maher smacked back-to-back singles, before junior first baseman Timmy Wagner (Hingham, Mass.) drew a walk to fill the bases. Finkelstein bared down and fanned the next batter on a full-count to keep it a zero-zero game.
Babson returns to the diamond on Saturday, May 4 when it hosts NEWMAC foe Springfield College for a 12:00 p.m. twinbill, while Wheaton travels to Waltham, Mass. to take on Brandeis University tomorrow at 7:00 p.m.
