BOX
SCORE
NORTON, MA- The fourth-seeded Babson College baseball team
jumped out to an 11-run lead before holding off number-two Wheaton
College, 13-9 on Friday during the second day of the New England
Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament in Sidell
Stadium.
Wheaton, which is ranked 12th nationally and tied for third in the
most recent regional poll, slipped to 27-8 and will take on top
seed Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in a loser's bracket
game at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow at WPI. The 19-15 Beavers await the
winner for a 4:00 p.m. contest, with a victory sending Babson to
Sunday's championship round.
Babson was paced by the bat of sophomore Billy Besinger
(Milton, MA/Catholic Memorial), who turned in a 3-for-3
showing while scoring three runs and walking twice. Freshman
Billy Miller (Sagamore Beach, MA/Boston College),
junior Peter O'Toole (Salem, MA/Saint John's Prep)
and freshman Sean Cleary (Milton, MA/Salisbury
School) each added a pair of hits, and junior
Brian Scanlon (Lawrenceville, NJ/The Hun School of
Princeton) scored three times while walking twice.
Senior co-captain Jeff Wojnar (Bellaire,
TX/Episcopal) was outstanding on the mound for Babson,
limiting the potent Wheaton offense to just three runs in
seven-plus innings while scattering eight hits. He fanned three and
walked four. After the Lyons touched up a pair of Babson relievers
for six runs in the final two frames, senior Matt Barton
(Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville) came on to get the
final two outs and nail down his second save of the season.
Playing as the visiting team, the Lyons got on the board first,
as junior Jason Clucas (Peabody, MA/Saint John's
Prep) drilled an RBI double to straightaway center field
with one down in the second inning, but the Lyons left runners at
the corners, a prelude to Wheaton stranding 18 runners in the
game.
In the bottom of the inning, Babson responded with five runs on
three hits, as sophomore Corey Highfield (East Hampstead,
NH/Central Catholic) provided the big blow with a two-run
single. The Lyons were able to get a run back in the third, as
junior Paul Malaguti (Andover, MA/Andover) was hit
with the bases loaded, but Wheaton's final two batters were retired
with the bags packed.
A sacrifice fly and two-out RBI singles by junior Jake
Bartlett (Weymouth, MA/Boston College) and Miller in the
fourth allowed Babson to push its lead to 8-2, and Scanlon added an
RBI double with two down in the fifth inning. The Beavers plated
three runs on a pair of Wheaton errors in the seventh before
Bartlett capped the four-run frame with a sacrifice fly, making the
score 13-2.
In the eighth, Wheaton doubled its run count, as sophomore
Sean Munley (Trenton, NJ/The Hun School of
Princeton) plated a teammate on a sacrifice fly before
freshman Dan Haugh (Andover, MA/Saint John's Prep)
singled in another run. The following frame, the Lyons continued
their rally but ultimately came up shy, as Barton came out of the
pen to slam the door.
Munley and junior Jeff Lieneck (Foxboro, MA/Xaverian
Brothers) provided run-scoring singles in the ninth, and
freshman Dan Demeo (Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury)
walked with the bases loaded to make it 13-8. Barton inherited a
three-on, one-out save situation before yielding a sacrifice fly to
freshman Hal Landers (Salem, NH/Salem) but fanning
the final batter of the contest.
Senior Nick Pecora (Highland Park, NJ/Immaculata)
was 3-for-5 with three runs for the Lyons, sophomore Tad
Skelley (Wolfeboro, NH/Holderness School) added a 2-for-2
effort while scoring a pair of runs off the bench, while Clucas,
Lieneck and Malaguti added two knocks apiece. Munley plated a pair,
and senior Louie Bernardini (Gray, ME/Gray-New
Gloucester) took the loss after yielding three earned runs
in two-plus innings.
NOTE: Taken from a Wheaton College press release.
