BABSON PARK, Mass. -- Senior Chris Kucher (Westwood, Mass.) hit two home runs and drove in three to help the Babson College baseball team earn a hard-fought 7-6 victory over the nationally-ranked University of Southern Maine in a non-conference matchup at Govoni Field on Wednesday.

With their fifth straight win, the Beavers improved to 20-14 overall, while the Huskies, ranked 13th in the nation by D3baseball.com, fell to 25-6 with their third consecutive setback.

Babson jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, beginning when sophomore Dillon Gonzalez (Beverly, Mass.) drew a lead-off walk and senior captain Trevor Boyce (Canton, Mass.) followed with a double down the rightfield line. Both runners then scored on back-to-back sacrifice flies by Kucher and senior captain Conor Kortmann (Manalapan, N.J.) before sophomore Sean MacPhee (Framingham, Mass.) capped the three-run frame with a solo homer to right center - his fourth round-tripper of the season.

The Beavers added to their lead in the third, when Kucher blasted his team-leading sixth home run of the year over the wall in right center, making it 4-0 in favor of the hosts. Southern Maine then threatened to break through in the top of the fifth, but Gonzalez made a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch before crashing into the wall on a blast to left by first-year Sam Dexter (Oakland, Maine). Gonzalez then fired the ball in to sophomore shortstop Rob Caggiano (Medford, Mass.), who made a great throw from shallow left to double off Huskies' sophomore Jake Glauser (Goffstown, N.H.) at first for an inning-ending double play.

Kucher struck again in the bottom of the fifth, as he launched a monster home run that easily cleared the scoreboard in left - his second shot of the day and seventh of the season. Two innings later, senior John Botelho (Tempe, Ariz.) belted his second homer of the spring – one of his two hits on the day – as Babson built a 7-1 lead after seven.

After allowing just one run through the first seven innings, Beavers' sophomore starter Nick Malatos (Milton, Mass.) finally ran into trouble in the eighth. Senior Tucker White (Deerfield, N.H.) made it 7-3 with a two-run homer to center, scoring Dexter ahead of him, and junior Forrest Chadwick (Gardiner, Maine) followed with a solo shot to right to make it 7-4 and knock Malatos out of the contest.

The Huskies continued their eighth-inning rally when senior Nick Grady (Whitefield, Maine) drew a walk from first-year reliever Bennett Deady (Andover, Mass.) and senior John Carey (South Portland, Maine) followed with a double against Babson's third pitcher of the inning, sophomore Connor Allen (Madison, N.J.). Junior Troy Thibodeau (Danvers, Mass.) then drove in both runners with a single to center, cutting Babson's lead to 7-6.

Clinging to a one-run lead, the Beavers received another huge defensive play in the top of the ninth, this time courtesy of centerfielder Boyce. With one away, Southern Maine senior Anthony Pisani (Cheshire, Conn.) ripped a basehit toward the right-centerfield gap. Boyce raced over to cut it off and fired a strike to shortstop Caggiano, who was able to tag out Pisani to cut down the potential tying run at second base. Allen then retired the final batter of the inning on a lazy fly to right as Babson finished off the huge 7-6 win.

Malatos (1-1) picked up his first collegiate victory on the mound for the Beavers, allowing four runs on nine hits, walking two and striking out two in 7 1/3 innings of work. Allen got the final five outs for the hosts to pick up his third save of the season.

The first of five Southern Maine pitchers on the day, sophomore Alex Tobey (South Berwick, Maine) took the loss for the visitors, dropping his record to 1-1. Pisani led the Huskies at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double.