March 15, 2008
Box Score (vs. Amherst) | Box Score (vs. Eastern Nazarene)
FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Babson baseball team used a sterling pitching performance in one game and a historic feat at the plate in another to claim a pair of wins on day two of its spring break trip to Florida on Saturday. The Beavers dismissed Amherst, 11-4, behind a brilliant effort from first-year hurler Andrew Aizenstadt and then crushed Eastern Nazarene, 20-8, in a game that featured a cycle from junior Bryan Evans.
Game one was a pitchers' duel between Aizenstadt and Amherst senior Chris Edgar through the first five and a half innings, with the Beavers holding a slim 1-0 lead thanks to an unearned run off Edgar in the third. However, Edgar left the game after five, and the Green and White took advantage by plating five runs in both the sixth and seventh frames to build a commanding 11-0 advantage. Highlighting the Beavers' five-run sixth was senior co-captain Matt Delaney, who blasted a three-run homer that scored classmate Steve Tahmoush and sophomore Dave Ahern in front of him. Babson then plated five more runs in the seventh, with senior Andrew Nodine knocking in a pair with a bases-loaded single.
With Babson offense providing plenty of support, Aizenstadt mystifyied the Amherst lineup for seven innings. The rookie righthander was simply brilliant in his collegiate debut, retiring the first 14 batters he faced before surrendering a two-out single in the top of the fifth. He would allow only one other baserunner - a two-out error in the seventh - as he turned in seven shutout innings of one-hit ball. Junior Chris Legrow came on to pitch the final two frames for the Beavers and, despite running into some trouble in the ninth, finished off the 11-4 victory.
Sophomore Peter O'Toole went 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI in opener, while Delaney went 2-for-4 with one run and three RBIs. Nodine also drove in three for Babson, and Ahern added two runs and two knocked in.
The late-inning offensive momentum against Amherst continued in the game against Eastern Nazarene, as the Beavers lit up the Crusader pitching staff to the tune of 20 runs on 21 hits. Babson was led by a momunmental performance from Evans, who not only hit for the cycle while driving in a career-high seven runs, but incredibly he accomplished the feat over a span of just four innings. After grounding out in the first, the junior first baseman singled in two runs in the second, tripled in two in the third, hit a two-run homer in the fourth, and doubled in a run in the fifth. He added a second double in the seventh to cap off his magnificent five-hit performance.
Other standout performances for Babson included sophomore Jake Bartlett, who went 4-for-4 with three runs and two RBIs, first-year Sean Pucciarelli, who went 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs, and Tahmoush, who went 3-for-5 with two runs and one RBI. Delaney and O'Toole each scored three times, while first-year Corey Highfield drove in a pair. Junior Pete Bizinkauskas went the distance on the mound for the Beavers to earn his first win of the year.
