WORCESTER, Mass.—Junior Chris Warren (Medfield, Mass.) and first-year Jack Halpin (Glastonbury, Conn.) each drove in two runs and junior Barrett O'Neill (Ashland, Mass.) allowed just one run over seven innings as visiting Babson College defeated Clark University, 8-1, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball action on Thursday afternoon at Granger Field.

With the victory, Babson is now 13-13 overall and 7-7 in conference play, while Clark drops to 7-20 overall and 4-10 in the NEWMAC. The Green and White and Springfield are tied for the last two spots in next week's conference tournament, sitting one game ahead of Coast Guard with three to play.

Halpin had a double and a triple as part of a three-hit day while junior Dillon Gonzalez (Beverly, Mass.) also doubled and had three hits. Senior Brendan Collins (Abington, Mass.) added two hits and scored twice for the Beavers, which stole five bases in the win.

Junior Dennis Glynn (Jamaica Plain, Mass.) and sophomore Nicholas O'Brien (Potomac, Md.), who drove in the only run of the day for the Cougars, both had two hits.

The Green and White started fast as five of its first six hitters reached base, leading to three first-inning runs. First-year Kevin Murphy (Pembroke, Mass.) drew a one-out walk and scored the first run of the game one batter later on a triple by Halpin. Halpin came home to make it 2-0 on a wild pitch, and Collins, who reached on a one-single through the left side, scored the final run of the inning on a throwing error.

Clark left a pair on base in the bottom of the frame and then loaded the bases with one out on a trio of singles in the second. O'Neill then plunked O'Brien to force in a run, but escaped further damage by getting a fly out and a ground out to end the threat.

Babson quickly responded to the Cougars run with four of its own in the third inning to break the game open. Collins led off with a double, junior Sean MacPhee (Framingham, Mass.) was hit by a pitch, and first-year Joe Barry (Stoneham, Mass.) loaded the bases with a walk. Warren then drove in a pair of runs with a single to right, and both he and Barry scored later in the inning to make it 7-1.

O'Neill settled in for the Beavers over the middle innings, retiring nine in a row after loading the bases in the second, while giving up just one hit and a walk over the next four frames. He worked out of another one-out, bases loaded jam in the seventh, inducing back-to-back pop ups to keep Clark off the board.

O'Neill (1-0) finished with four strikeouts and two walks while scattering six hits to pick up the win. First-year Ken Rotunno (East Islip, N.Y.) allowed just one hit over the final two innings to secure the victory.

Senior Austin Knief (Scarsdale, N.Y.) gave up six earned runs on six hits and four walks in two innings, dropping to 0-4 on the season. First-year Joseph Gouveia (Nashua, N.H.) tossed seven innings of five-hit relief for the Cougars, surrendering just one unearned run.

Both teams return to action on Friday at 3:30 p.m. as Babson welcomes Emerson to Govoni Field for the opener of a three-game set, while Clark hosts Coast Guard.