April 21, 2007

Box Score (Game 1) | Box Score (Game 2)

WORCESTER, Mass. - Babson College and Clark University split a NEWMAC doubleheader on Saturday at Granger Field, with Babson winning game one, 15-1, and the Cougars grabbing game two, 16-12.

With the split, Clark moves to 11-16 overall (4-7 NEWMAC) while Babson's record stretches to 19-10 (6-6 NEWMAC). The Beavers will enter this week's NEWMAC Tournament as the fourth seed, and will host a quarterfinal round game on Thursday against either Clark or Springfield. Those two teams will meet in a regular season make-up game on Tuesday, with the winner earning the fifth seed and a trip to Babson Park.

Junior Steve Tahmoush (Arlington, Mass.) led the offense for Babson on the day, going a combined 7-11 at the plate with four runs batted in. Joseph Pasciucco (Attleboro, Mass.) tagged four hits and pitched three total innings between the two games. Kyle Breidenstine's (Shoemakersville, Penn.) RBI single in the fourth inning of the second game marked his 100th career hit as a Cougar.

A twelve-run sixth inning propelled Babson past the Cougars in the first match-up. Clark's lone run in the game came in the third inning on some efficient small ball play. Down by two scores, Pasciucco hit a double to lead off and took third on a sacrifice bunt by Matthew Adams (Jackson Heights, N.Y.). Breidenstine's fly ball to right brought the runner home.

After two quick outs in the top of the sixth, Babson brought 15 hitters to the plate en route to scoring 12 runs to put the game away. During the rally, junior Matt Delaney (Newton, Mass.) hit a triple to knock in two runs, while first-year Jake Bartlett's (Weymouth, Mass.) single to left also plated a pair. The Beavers added another run in the top of the seventh to mark the final score.

In the second game, four Cougars homered to power past Babson, 16-12. Nicholas Tapper (Hopkington, Mass.), Michael Pritchard (Ansonia, Conn.), Joe Silva (Westbury, N.Y.) each hit solo shots and Eric Dufour (Exeter, N.H.) crushed a two-run bomb to lead the Cougars.

After Babson scored five runs in the first two innings, Tapper's lead-off blast began the scoring for Clark, who scored six runs in the inning to take the lead. Pasciucco's single added an RBI, while Breidenstine hit into a fielder's choice during the rally to knock in two more runs.

Starter Dan Simokonis (Worcester, Mass.), backed by the runs, retired the next five batters faced. The Beavers would come back, however, on a grand slam by first-year Brian Scanton (Lawrenceville, N.J.) to cut the lead to two (12-10). The Cougars' offensive assault continued, however, as they stretched the lead to six (16-10) with Dufour's two-run blast in the eighth.

The teams combined for a total of 53 hits and 43 runs in the double header match-up.

NOTE: Taken from a Clark University press release.