WINTER HAVEN, Fla.—Senior Chris Kucher (Westwood, Mass.) went 8-for-8, driving home three runs and scoring twice as Babson College split a pair of games on Friday afternoon, beating Elmhurst College 8-2 to open the day before falling to Division I Dartmouth College, 10-3, at Chain of Lakes Park.

Kucher went 3-for-3 with a two-run homer against Elmhurst and followed it up by going 5-for-5 and driving in another run for the Beavers against Dartmouth. The senior third-baseman has now reached base in 11 straight at-bats and is hitting .483 through eight games (14-for-29).

Babson (5-3) scored twice in the third, sixth and seventh innings against Elmhurst (4-1) and junior Derek Richards (Framingham, Mass.) settled down after giving up a run in each of the first two innings to earn his first win of the season. The right-hander scattered six hits over seven innings, striking out seven and walking four, before giving way to first-year Nick Ahearn (Norfolk, Mass.), who pitched the final two innings, giving up just one hit.

Seniors Pat Matichuk (Middleton, Mass.) and Trevor Boyce (Canton, Mass.), juniors Brendan Collins (Abington, Mass.) and Sean Lanahan (Avon, Conn.), and sophomore Rob Caggiano (Medford, Mass.) all had two hits apiece for the Beavers. Lanahan and Caggiano each drove in a pair of runs and Matvichuk picked up two stolen bases in the win.

Babson struck for a run in the top of the first inning against the Big Green as sophomore Dillon Gonzalez (Beverly, Mass.) reached on a fielding error, advanced to second base on a passed ball and scored two batters later on a Kucher single to centerfield. Dartmouth (10-1) took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third inning, scoring a pair of two-out runs and broke the game open with a seven-run fourth inning, using five hits and a pair of walks to take control of the game.

Lanahan doubled and drove in a pair of runs while Sean MacPhee (Framingham, Mass.) and Matvichuk each added singles. First-year Brody Loughlin (Rockland, Mass.) took the loss for the Beavers, giving up eight runs, four earned, on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Babson will wrap up its Florida swing when they take on Allegheny College on Saturday morning at 10:00am before returning home for a four-game homestand starting on Monday afternoon.