May 3, 2007

Box Score

BABSON PARK, Mass. - Senior tri-captain Ryan Campbell (Manchester, N.H.) celebrated his final collegiate home game with three hits and the game-winning RBI as the Babson College Beavers defeated the visiting University of Southern Maine, 2-0, in a non-conference baseball game at Govoni Field on Thursday afternoon. Sophomore Jeff Wojnar (Bellaire, Texas), sophomore Chris Legrow (North Andover, Mass.), and first-year Dave Ahern (Bedford, Mass.) combined on the five-hit shutout for the Beavers, who improved to 24-13 with the win.

The Huskies, ranked eighth in New England, fell to 23-12 with the loss, despite a strong pitching performance from junior Adam Ross (Spruce Head, Maine).

Wojnar and Ross matched zeros through the first six and a half innings before Babson finally snapped the scoreless tie in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, junior Matt Delaney (Newton, Mass.) singled down the left field line and stole second. Following a walk to sophomore Andrew Spevacek (Shorewood, Minn.), Campbell drilled the first pitch he saw to the base of the wall in deep center, scoring Delaney with the game's first run. On the play, USM cut down Spevacek at the plate for the inning's second out, allowing Campbell to take third. The team's senior co-captain then trotted home to make it 2-0 on a clutch two-out single through the right side by first-year Jake Bartlett (Weymouth, Mass.).

That would prove to be the only scoring of the ball game, as both teams pitched extremely well. Wojnar (5-3) went seven-plus innings for Babson, scattering four hits, three walks, and a hit batter while striking out eight. He then gave way to LeGrow, who pitched out of a jam in the eighth and got the first two outs of the ninth before giving up a single to Southern Maine senior Josh Mackey (Danvers, Mass.). That prompted head coach Matt Noone to bring in Ahern, who got the final batter to foul out to Campbell at first. The save was the rookie's sixth of the year, tying the school's single-season record held by Dave DiGangi '94 and Jason Kosow '04.

Ross (4-1) also went seven innings in his first defeat of the season, allowing two earned runs on seven hits, walking four, hitting a batter, and striking out three. The junior righthander escaped numerous jams through the first six frames, despite six errors behind him during that span. Senior captain Pat Foley (Norwood, Mass.) pitched a perfect eighth for the Huskies, fanning one.

Campbell went 3-for-4 with a double, and run scored, and an RBI for the Beavers, while Delaney added two hits and a run in three at-bats. Bartlett and senior Billy Lucas (Acworth, Ga.) also recorded hits for Babson, while Mackey, sophomore Chris Burleson (Portland, Maine), senior Max Arsenault (Boothbay, Maine), senior Joe McGhee (Walpole, Mass.), and sophomore Andrew Stacy (Denmark, Maine) each provided hits for USM.