BABSON PARK, Mass.—Sophomore Sean MacPhee (Framingham, Mass.) capped a late rally by smacking a one-out double to right field scoring first-year Shea Rosadino (Devon, Pa.) with the game-winning run as Babson College rallied to salvage a split with a 5-4 victory over Clark University in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball action on Saturday afternoon at Govoni Field. The Cougars won the opening game of the doubleheader 1-0.

Babson is now 13-12 overall and 7-7 in NEWMAC play while Clark is 8-20 overall and 2-12 in conference play.

Senior Chris Kucher (Westwood, Mass.) went 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles, two runs batted in and a run scored to help pace the Beavers' offense in game two. Sophomore Dillon Gonzalez (Beverly, Mass.) was 3-for-3 with a walk, senior Trevor Boyce had two hits and scored twice, and MacPhee had a pair of hits and scored a run to go along with his game-winning RBI.

Babson got on the board in the bottom of the third inning as Boyce singled to left field and got into scoring position with his 14th stolen base of the season. Two batters later Kucher drove him home with a two-out single up the middle for a 1-0 lead. The Beavers would double their advantage in the fifth inning as Boyce led off with a single and Kucher plated him with a one-out double to left field.

Despite registering just two hits over the first six innings, Clark's offense came alive in the seventh as they scored four runs to take the lead. Junior Brian Sullivan (Auburn, Mass.) hit a one-out single to left center field, scoring first-year Michael Eglow (Delmar, N.Y.), and first-year Zachary Richall (Tyngsboro, Mass.) drew a bases loaded walk to score graduate student Mitch DeLorenzo (Berlin, Conn.) to tie the game. Junior Andrew Doolittle (Hebron, Conn.) gave the Cougars a 3-2 lead when he scored on a wild pitch, and Sullivan scored two batters later on a double play to push the advantage to 4-2.

After being retired in order in the seventh inning, Babson rallied with a run in the eighth to cut the lead in half as MacPhee singled with one out and later scored on senior Pat Matvichuk's (Middleton, Mass.) RBI groundout, setting the stage for the ninth inning rally.

Kucher got things going in the final frame with a one-out double and senior Conor Kortmann (Manalapan, N.J.) followed with a single through the right side to put runners on the corners. First-year George Crowley (Watertown, Mass.) singled up the middle to score Kucher, tying the game at 4-4, before MacPhee's heroics.

Sophomore Connor Allen (Madison, N.J.) got the win for the Beavers with three shutout innings in relief of starter Derek Richards (Framingham, Mass.). Allen allowed just two hits and after entering the game with the bases loaded and no outs in the seventh inning, he allowed just one of the inherited runners to score, keeping the Beavers in the game.

Neither team generated much offense in game one as junior Michael Bortolotti (Milton, Mass.) of Babson and senior Derek Dubois (Haverhill, Mass.) of Clark came through with terrific performances on the mound. Bortolotti tossed a complete-game five-hitter, striking out five and walking four, while Dubois gave up just three hits and struck out 10 in a complete game effort to earn the win.

The Cougars finally got on the board in the top of the seventh inning, giving Dubois the only run he would need with a two-out rally. First-years Brian O'Keefe (Brighton, Mass.) and Nicholas O'Brien (Potomac, Md.) hit back-to-back singles to center, followed by a walk to Jack Kenney (Saco, Maine) to load the bases. One batter later, O'Keefe scampered home with the game-winning run on a wild pitch.

Eglow had two hits for Clark while Boyce doubled and Gonzalez and Crowley had singles for the Beavers, who tied a season-low with just three hits.

The teams will be back in action tomorrow afternoon when they complete their three-game series in Worcester in a 12:30pm start.