March 28, 2007

Box Score

BABSON PARK, Mass. - The Plymouth State University baseball team erupted for nine runs in the top of the eighth inning to claim a 16-6 victory over host Babson College in a non-conference contest at Govoni Field on Wednesday afternoon. The loss was just the second of the year for the Beavers (6-2), while the Panthers improved to 3-7.

Babson grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second, as first-year Brian Scanlon (Lawrenceville, N.J.) singled off the center fielder's glove to score classmate Jake Bartlett (Milton, Mass.) from second. Junior Steve Tahmoush (Arlington, Mass.) then continued his torrid start to the season with a single to shallow left, scoring first-year Peter O'Toole (Salem, Mass.) with the Beavers' second run.

Plymouth State answered in the top of the third, as senior Dylan Mullin (Derry, N.H.) and junior John Pogorzelski (Hillsborough, N.J.) both singled and scored on a three-run homer to right by senior Josh Lobissiere (Lincoln, R.I.). However, Babson regained the lead in the bottom of the inning, as junior Jay Verrill (Auburn, Maine) doubled in sophomore Andrew Spevacek (Shorewood, Minn.) and junior Matt Delaney (Newton, Mass.) to give the Beavers a 4-3 advantage. The home team then tacked on another run in the fourth, when Bartlett's single to center scored sophomore Jeff Wojnar (Bellaire, Texas) from second to make it 5-3.

The Panthers tied the game with two runs in the top of the sixth, as senior Steve Campo (Londonderry, N.H.) singled in classmate Jamie Aceto (Cumberland, R.I.) and later scored on a bases-loaded walk by Pogorzelski. Babson moved back in front in the bottom of the seventh, when after Tahmoush drove in first-year pinch-runner Dave Ahern (Bedford, Mass.) to make it 6-5 in favor of the Beavers.

That set the stage for Plymouth State's nine-run explosion in the top of the eighth, which began with a game-tying RBI single by sophomore Josh Roberti (Cranston, R.I.). Junior Brandon Hodge (Bradford, Vt.) then gave the Panthers the lead for good when he drove in two with a single to left, and sophomore Jay Kleponis (Reading, Mass.) broke it open with a two-run triple to right-center. Campo later knocked in two more with a single up the middle, Mullin plated another with a double to right, and Roberti capped off the outburst with his second RBI single of the inning. The Panthers added two more runs in the ninth for the 16-6 final.

Campo went 2-for-6 with three runs scored and four RBIs for Plymouth State, while Lobissiere also went 2-for-6 with two runs and three knocked in. Junior hurler Chris Hale (Londonderry, N.H.) earned the win after pitching the seventh and eighth for the Panthers, while sophomore Adam Neshe (Framingham, Mass.) tossed two scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth to quiet a Babson lineup that had scored five runs in the first four frames.

For Babson, Tahmoush finished another outstanding day with three hits in five at-bats, raising his season average to a sizzling .529 (18-for-34). Delaney added a 2-for-4 performance at the plate, while sophomore Chris Legrow (North Andover, Mass.) shouldered the tough-luck loss despite allowing no earned runs in 1 2/3 innings of relief.