April 18, 2007

Box Score

BABSON PARK, Mass. - First-year Jake Bartlett (Weymouth, Mass.) drove in the go-ahead run with a double to left in the bottom of the eighth inning and classmate Dave Ahern (Bedford, Mass.) pitched a scoreless ninth for his third save as host Babson College claimed a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over visiting UMass-Boston in a non-conference baseball tilt at Govoni Field. It was the fourth straight win and eighth in the last 10 games for the Beavers (16-9), while UMass-Boston fell to 10-11 on the year.

The contest started out as a fantastic pitchers' duel between Babson sophomore Mark Donnellan (Walpole, Mass.) and UMB junior Mike Dorval (Belchertown, Mass.), who matched zeros for the first six innings. Dorval held the Beavers hitless during that span, while Donnellan allowed just three singles.

Both pitchers ran into trouble in the seventh, beginning when UMB senior tri-captain Jamie Soto (Peabody, Mass.) reached on an error to start the top of the inning. Donnellan then retired the next batter, but first-year Steve Bowers (Portland, Ore.) followed with an RBI double to left center, scoring Soto all the way from first with the game's first run. Pinch runner Dan Ciocca (Natick, Mass.) later moved to third on a double to right by first-year Joe Priscella (Quincy, Mass.) that chased Donnellan, and he scored on another error on a fielder's choice grounder off the bat of senior tri-captain Bob Kniffen (Halifax, Mass.). Sophomore leftfielder Bryan Evans (Bellaire, Texas) followed with what would turn out to be a pivotal play for Babson, as he cut down Priscella at the plate after a fly ball to left for the inning's final out.

After failing to record a hit through the first six innings, Babson finally broke through against Dorval in the bottom of the seventh, thanks to some timely hitting and a pair of costly defensive miscues. After first-year Peter O'Toole (Salem, Mass.) reached on the Beacons' third error of the game to start the inning, senior tri-captain Andrea Collins (South Boston, Mass.) recorded the Beavers' first hit when he doubled down the left field line to put runners at second and third. Fellow senior tri-captain Billy Schmitt (Fairview, N.J.) followed with a clutch single to center to score O'Toole, and Collins followed him home when the ball got past Kniffen in center. Schmitt took second on the play, but Dorval recovered to retire the next two batters to escape further damage.

With the contest tied at 2-2, sophomore Jeff Wojnar (Bellaire, Texas) drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the eighth to chase Dorval. Sophomore Tom Michael (Manchester, N.H.) came on to get the next two outs, including a groundout that moved senior pinch runner Billy Lucas (Acworth, Ga.) to second, but Lucas took third on a wild pitch and then scored on Bartlett's RBI-double over the left fielder's head that gave Babson a 3-2 lead.

Junior Robbie Leer (Edina, Minn.) earned the win (2-1) after tossing a scoreless eighth, and Ahern came on to retire the side in order in the ninth to collect the save. Donnellan pitched well once again in the start for the Beavers, allowing two runs - both unearned - on five hits while walking three and striking out three in 6 1/3 innings of work. Sophomore Chris Legrow (North Andover, Mass.) came on with one out in the seventh and got the final two outs on the fly-ball doubleplay to Evans in left.

Despite shouldering the loss, Dorval (2-1) was brilliant in defeat, as he allowed three runs - only one of which was earned - on two hits, walking four and striking out four. Michael pitched one inning of relief, allowing one hit and hitting a batter.

Kniffen, Soto, Bowers, Priscella, and senior tri-captain Bryan Curran (Brockton, Mass.) each recorded hits for UMass-Boston, while Bartlett, Collins, and Schmitt had the only hits for Babson. Beavers' junior Steve Tahmoush (Arlington, Mass.) went 0-for-4 with three flyouts to center and a groundout to third to end his hitting streak at 14 games - the longest by a Babson player since 2003.